New Tales of the The Hong Kong Young Writers Awards Online Anthology - Fiction 1-2 Sponsors

Supported by Organiser Official Charity New Tales of the Gobi Desert Fiction Group 1 The Gobi Desert AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Li Tung Kit, Fiction: Group 1

ne day, Dad and Mum called Ivan Kwok to go to Gobi Desert to broaden his mind and knowledge. Because Ivan Kwok knew there was no water in the desert. He brought a barrel of water with him. Then, he got on the aeroplane to the Gobi Desert. Ivan Kwok waited quietly on the plane day after days, but not yet arrived. He fell Ointo sleep. Suddenly, a radio microphone surprised him and announced, “We have arrived at the Gobi Desert.” So, he took up his barrel of water and got off the plane. However, he looked back and found nobody here, even on the plane. Ivan Kwok realized the weather of the Gobi Desert was very dry and windy. The sun was too intense. He walked along the Gobi Desert and drank his water. A stone made him tripped over on the sand. His barrel of water was upside down and he lost all of his water. Did the Gobi Desert make a joke with Ivan Kwok? Ivan Kwok felt thirsty. Suddenly, he saw a blue lake in front of him. Therefore, he jumped into the lake and wanted to drink until he was filled up. However, his mouth was full of sand only. OH! It was just a mirage. After that, he met a giant. The giant was staring at the sky. Ivan Kwok asked, “What are you worrying about?” The giant said, “I am counting how many stars there are in the sky, but I cannot finish it. Can you do me a favour?” Ivan Kwok answered, “In the day time, there are not stars in the sky. You can just do it at night.” The giant said, “Thanks for your help and now I give you an aeroplane to go home.” Ivan Kwok was excited to go back home by aeroplane. On his way back home, the alarm rang out loudly, “Mayday, mayday, mayday.” Meanwhile, the aeroplane fell down from the sky. Ivan Kwok’s head hit towards the window and hurt himself so much. At the same time, he heard his mother’s voice and he woke up. It was just a nightmare. Shortlisted

Goblinland A.D. & F.D. of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Wong Wing Chun, Fiction: Group 1

n the big desert in northwest , there are Goblins. Nobody knows where they live but people heard about Goblins from tales. Goblins are very small, like a child’s fist. They have a big head and grey skin. They wear grass and leaves. They hate the sun and hot weather. So they come out at night time and Ihide in the day time. It is summer. Rain does not come in the Goblinland. The desert is very dry and the Goblins do not have enough water. They worry about their lives. There is a naughty boy in Goblinland. His name is Gob. He is very thirsty and dreams of drinking water. One day, a group of men came to the desert, riding on camels. They had bottles of water. In the night time, the men slept. Gob walked to the camels quietly. He climbed on the bottles and drank water. He finished so many bottles of water that he was sleepy. Suddenly Gob fell off the camel’s back. His big head hit another camel’s foot and the camel yelled loudly, waking the men. A man got up quickly and caught Gob. The man was interested in Gob and asked him many questions. The man was kind and knew Goblinland had no water. The man gave Gob a big bottle of water and drew him a map to tell Gob where to get water. Gob was very happy. Then, the sun was about to rise so it was time for Gob to go home. Gob burned some leaves from his clothes and the smoke made the man sleep. Gob brought the big bottle of water to his family. They were happy too. In the morning, the man got up and found that he had lost one bottle of water. He was not sure if it was a dream or not. He could only tell his friends the words Gob and Gob-in-land. His tale became widespread, and now the desert is named the Gobi Desert. My Adventure in the Gobi Desert AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Chan Yan Ting, Fiction: Group 1

ne day, I took my time machine and flew back to the Gobi Desert in , China. I set the year for 1700. It was Qing Dynasty at that time. I saw sand everywhere. It was as golden as the sun. It was beautiful. I also saw some tall mountains and a few shrubs. There were some goats, antelopes, camels, hares and Olizards. Suddenly, I saw a snow leopard, a brown bear and a wolf. I was afraid. Someone came out to rescue me. A girl and a fairy were smiling at me. The girl was called Man Man and she was the Princess of Mongolia. She was kind. The name of the fairy was Mary. She was tiny. She was flying around my head. Princess Man Man and Mary the fairy showed me around the Gobi Desert. We rode camels together. It was fun. We found some fossil eggs of dinosaurs. We decided to fly back to the ancient times by my time machine to visit the dinosaurs. We saw a huge but gentle dinosaur eating grass. It was an Apatosaurus which was a herbivore. It was friendly. We rode on it and played with it. Suddenly, a Tyrannosaurus ran to us. We were shocked and scared. Mary the fairy took out her magic wand and made the Tyrannosaurus disappear in one second. We all felt relieved. We said goodbye to the Apatosaurus and flew back to 1700. Princess Man Man brought Mary the fairy and I to her palace. It was a yurt. We watched sunset together. It was marvelous. We had dinner in the palace. It was very cold and windy outside and we were freezing. We had hot roast lamb, warm goat milk, goat cheese and pastries. I taught Princess Man Man to make goat milk candies. She felt interested. I found a chocolate in my pocket and gave it to her. She said it was delicious and liked it very much. Princess Man Man asked me to stay in the palace for one night so that we could watch the sunrise the next morning, so I slept with her in the yurt. Mary the fairy had her own tiny bed besides Princess Man Man. The three of us got up very early the next morning. The sky was still dark. We watched the sunrise together. It was fascinating. I said goodbye to my two good friends and flew back to 2013 in my time machine. I told them I would visit them again. I really had an exciting adventure in the Gobi Desert. A Vacation with a Mission Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Tsang Shun Hang, Fiction: Group 1

n a hot summer day, Sam opened his eyes. He just woke up from a restless sleep in his home in San Francisco. He looked at the desk and remembered that he had to do a school project about the Gobi Desert during summer vacation. He planned to explore the Gobi Desert with his brother, Jacky. He rushed out of his bedroom and packed his Obackpack. Jacky was waiting for him. They said goodbye to their parents and set off. They sailed on a small boat and walked on the desert when they arrived. It was too hot and they opened an umbrella. It was big. But there was a big problem. Their umbrella started to melt because it was 50oC where they were standing. They were too hot and Jacky fainted. Sam was very scared. Fortunately, a camel was walking towards them. It told Sam that a powerful dragon, Nimongeese would create a sandstorm to destroy the desert very soon. He wanted to conquer all places and become the king of the world. At this moment, Jacky awoke. Sam told him about the sandstorm. They ran very fast but it was too late. Nimongeese’s sandstorm was attacking the desert. The sandstorm blew sand heavily against them and they could not see anything. When they were almost buried by the sand, Sam screamed very loudly because he was afraid to die. Suddenly, the sandstorm stopped and Nimongeese died. Sam saved the desert! All the animals in the desert cheered and helped Sam and Jacky explore the desert. After one month, Sam and Jack finished exploring the desert. Also, they found out the weakness of Nimongeese. It could not bear loud noises. Then, they returned to their home. Sam won a prize for the project. He was very happy. That night, he slept soundly and had a sweet dream about the Gobi Desert. The New Tale of the Gobi Desert American International School, Ming-Hin Cai, Fiction: Group 1

ast summer, my dad took us to the Gobi Desert for a tour. We arrived in the middle of the desert at night and we spent the night in a herdsman’s family ger. It’s not a hotel, but just a traditional Mongolian tent. As we were getting into the ger, rain started to fall. The next morning, we heard the herdsman’s boy say that his horse was gone! Dad asked the Ltour guide what he had said, and the tour guide replied, “His horse had eaten a big worm’s eggs, then it ran away.” Later on, we found out the horse was a gift from his uncle who lived in the north. The boy started to cry, and his father tried to comfort him. He said that perhaps the horse was going to the north to his uncle. The next day, we ate breakfast and continued our journey to the north. It was a long ride. When it was mid-day, we saw a horse with a flag that was traveling the same direction as ours. I wondered if that was the kid’s horse. The tour guide interrupted my thoughts and said, “That is the kid’s horse! He told me that his horse had a yellow flag on it.” We kept chasing the horse for a few days, but something unusual had happened. It didn’t take a break at all! Finally, as we settled into the ger for the night, I suddenly remembered something my dad told me back at home about the legend of Mongolian warriors and horses in the old time, as well as the Mongolian Death Worm I read on the . The legend said that the Mongolian horses could travel for days without eating or drinking. They could travel a long, long distance. For the Mongolian warriors, the legend said that they were fearsome warriors that drank their horses’ blood before they went to war. Then I thought about the Death Worms that only came out after rainy days. Then I asked myself, “Is that how Mongolians make their super warriors and horses? They fed the worm’s eggs to the horses so that they could run for days and the warriors drank the horses’ blood before went to battle?” Then I realized that I have to write this and show it to my teacher, which I am doing right now! The Gobi Desert American International School, Anton Chan, Fiction: Group 1

nce in a kingdom under many things there lived two sweet and wonderful sisters. The older one was 10 and her name was not given to her because they lived alone. When they had moved, their parents were gone. Some say they have left, others say they were kidnapped but the girls knew they would find them and get her sisters name back and Oalso have a good life. Next is the younger sister. She`s 8. She has a wonderful name Raspberry. She made the name up for herself but her older sister did not. She did not think it`s right to make a name for themselves. They moved here because many things had changed up on the city. The were in the fire to get their mom back and they could not stand it any longer. They made many plans in many ways. They talk, chat, and brainstorm. Finally the answer was there in that moment and they knew that they have to save their mom so they decide to leave at Monday. Both of them were ready. As they set off they were both thinking of their mom. Suddenly, without knowing, they went to a different path. Finally when Raspberry was close to the place of where people of the evil lived she stopped and looked back. She did not see her older sister. She yelled many times. No one answered on the other side. Her older sister was lost of course and they were smart. They both went home and when they were there they both had forgotten, but lucky they had a map! As fast as wind they were there fighting the witch that had cursed a spell on Raspberry and on her older sister. They can`t lose any more of their family as her power was stronger. She knew she had to do something like fire. So she boosted and there the spell had unlocked the problem that was their mom. Then sadly the wind fly by in front of them and stood a dust of her mother. Raspberry rushed up to her and one touch of Raspberry’s finger and her mother was alive standing there and hugged her too. The daughter’s first question what her older sister and Raspberry’s real name. The older sister was name Lucy and Raspberry was name Jasmine. They laughed and giggled and also had much question on the way. When they were home they sat down all night long hugging side to side. Snow Leopard and Golden Eagle American International School, Gamin Kim, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, Snow Leopard and Golden Eagle lived in the cold Gobi Desert. The Snow Leopard was very jealous of the Golden Eagles beautiful feathers. One day, the Snow Leopard asked Golden Eagle, “Can I have some of your golden feathers?” “No” the Golden Eagle replied. OThis made the Snow Leopard’s jealousy get worse. That night, the Snow Leopard got so jealous because Golden Eagle had a made a beautiful coat with her shiny, golden fathers. So, Snow Leopard planned to steal the feathers. Each time Golden Eagle made more feathers, Snow Leopard would steal them. Now, Golden Eagle would not make her golden feathers. Golden Eagle was planning a trick on whoever was stealing her feathers. The next time she made her coat, she used itchy glitter feathers instead. Snow Leopard wanted to glittery feathers and tried to steal them, but “Aaachoooooo!” Snow Leopard sneezed. He was allergic to the glitter. But Snow Leopard was not very clever. Everyday Golden Eagle made glittery feathers, Snow Leopard tried to steal them. On Sunday, Snow Leopard achooed. On Monday, Snow Leopard achooed. On Tuesday, Snow Leopard achooed. On Wednesday, Snow Leopard achooed. On Thursday, Snow Leopard achooed. On Friday, Snow Leopard achooed. And finally on Saturday, Snow Leopard achooed! Snow Leopard got very angry at Golden Eagle. But Snow Leopard also learned his lesson. From now on Snow Leopard will never be jealous and steal things from others. Discovering The Gobi Desert American International School, Kristi Lam, Fiction: Group 1

here am I?” I asked myself, “What happened?” It all started when Lily, Emily and “ I were surfing when a big wave came and brought us here. “This place is so cool, and all we see are hills of sand!” Lily screamed. All of a sudden, I saw a teenage tour guide coming to us. She invited us to stay in her gigantic tent. Her name was RosieW De Cloo and she was from Mongolia. Rosie told us some facts about this place called the Gobi Desert. The first fact is that Gobi means waterless. The next fact is that the Gobi Desert is the fifth biggest desert in the world, but is the biggest desert in . Finally, she said this is the coldest desert in the world. The next morning, I saw Rosie reading a book and asked “What are you reading?” Rosie answered, “I am reading my travel book that I brought here. I thought we could have a cool adventure together!” “Oh! What a great idea! By the way, I have one more question. Does that guide book have any more facts about the Gobi Desert?” I asked. “Of course!” answered Rosie. Meanwhile, Lily and Emily woke up. Rosie and I had changed into our hiking clothes so that we can start our adventure. The two other girls asked what we were doing, and decided to join us. Later, Rosie checked her book again and said, “Do you know that camel riding is a popular event in the Gobi Desert?” “What other animals are inside the Gobi Desert?” asked Emily. “Good question, Emily. There are a lot, including snow leopards, takhis, jerboas, and much more.” Rosie explained. Just then, Rosie’s eyes lit up. She told us that she saw a camel nearby. “When I was young, my mother taught me how to talk to animals. I think I still remember how to do that.” exclaimed Rosie. She took a deep breath and started begging the camel to let them ride on him. Initially, the camel couldn’t get what Rosie meant, but at last he figured it out. “Yeah! You are so good, Rosie.” Lily said enthusiastically, and we all climbed on the camel one after another. That afternoon, the camel stopped to get some water. “Why don’t we also drink some water from the stream together?” Rosie suggested. Finally, after our fun camel ride and a refreshing drink from the oasis, Rosie told us she is going to call a helicopter to bring us back home! Within a few minutes, I heard a loud sound. It was the helicopter! When the helicopter landed, we jumped in and it started moving up. “Hurray! We can finally get back home!” Lily yelled excitedly. The next day, we were back to the beach and we started surfing again, wondering where the next big wave will take us... Gobi Desert American International School, Cassandra Lau, Fiction: Group 1

ne day, two girls went to the Gobi Desert and got lost. The first girl`s name was Sophie. The second girl`s name was Lucy. Now was the adventure for them. They started to take out their cell phones from their back packs to get a signal, then they got the signal at a saxaul tree. Under the tree was a walkie talkie. OSophie asked in a disappointed voice, “How did we even find this walkie talkie?!” “I have no idea how we found a walkie talkie,” Lucy replied. So they left the walkie talkie alone and left. Actually that walkie talkie was the clue. Anyway, back to the story. After, Lucy thought that the walkie talkie could locate a person. Lucy asked in a soft voice, “I think that walkie talkie can locate the police to get us out of here and end this whole adventure thing!” “Great idea but, HOW DO WE GO BACK AND FIND THAT SAXAUL TREE?!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled Sophie. After their fight, they turned around and tried to walk back and it worked! They were so happy. They took so many pictures that they forgot to go home and lost their way with that police and started the adventure all over again!!!!!!! The police had never been lost before in a desert. This one was so angry, he tore his new uniform and fainted for some reason. Sophie and Lucy were running so fast that Sophie stopped running to breathe. (Sophie had asthma.) Lucy had to wait and wait until the afternoon and kept running with Sophie slowly. They finally got home safely and said bye to each other. They agreed to never ever, and ever go to the Gobi Desert again!! Their moms went there and didn`t like the Gobi Desert forever! The Story of James American International School, Wai-Cheong Lo, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, there was a man called James. He was married and had a wife named Sally. They had a small white yurt on a medium sized farm in the Gobi Desert. The man had a barn and in the barn there were three sheep, four cows, seven chickens, one pig, and a horse. When his wife needed to buy food, she would have to ride their horse to a Ostore in a village that was far, far away. It was very expensive. So, the man went to a large shop in China. The shop was decorated with lots of red paper with black writing. Next, the man started to work for the boss. The man wanted to work for the boss because his wife said, “You need to make more money so we can buy a new farm and have more animals for food.” When the boss said, “Go give the Alaska some store goods.” Now the man rode camel to Alaska. When the Alaskan people saw the man, the Alaskan people were very happy because the man delivered all of the goods. When the man came back, the boss gave him $3,000. The man returned home and the wife said, “Great job! Now we can buy a bigger yurt.” Three years later, his wife and the man are rich. Now they have a computer, television, and motorbike. And now the couple lived happily ever after. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Chan Chic Yu, Fiction: Group 1

y dream is going to Gobi Desert in Mongolia. This is my dream story of going to Gobi Desert…..” One Sunny morning, my best friend Kelly and my sister Valerie and I flew in a plane and went there to Gobi Desert. It was very hot there! So we wore a white T-shirt and shorts pants. We Mbrought a mini refrigerator. Still hot! Then, we saw cows, cactus and gers that Mongolians live in. We walked 3 hours to go to Gobi Desert! Kelly, Valerie and I wanted a drink, so we ran into a shop and bought a drink. Gobi Desert is as big as a pyramid. In the morning, it is very hot. But at night, it is very cold that you need to warm yourself in 10 blankets! The weather is very different between day or night. At night, we slept in a tent. We were still cold after we used a heater. The next morning, I found a note out of the tent. It reads:

GOBI DESERT MYSTERY 1. Look at the map 2. Turn left, then go straight 3. Stop when you see a box, then open it the key….

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” my mom yelled. “Do your homework!” Surely, this is just my dream. When there is water and air in Gobi Desert, I would like to go there with Kelly and Valerie. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Chan Win Ki, Fiction: Group 1

o you know about what is the Gobi Desert? Let me tell you a new tales of the Gobi Desert! First, you should know about the Gobi Desert. The Gobi is a large desert region that covers parts of northern and north-western China and southern Mongolia. It also is Dthe fifth of lager desert in the world and stays in place a particular part of a country, of 1,300,000 square kilometers. Do you know what is rain shadow desert ? A rain shadow desert is formed by the Himalaya range blocking rain-carrying clouds from reaching the Gobi from the Indian Ocean. Also, do you know that the Gobi Desert have two famous deserts you can see everywhere. It is rock desert and gravel desert. Rock desert is thick weathered bedrock outcrops gentle; undulating ground, the lack of water and soil, the vegetation coverage below 10%. Gravel desert is known as gravel desert vegetation coverage in the 10 to 30%. You can found lot of special animals there such as camels and snow leopards .You can just found there in the Gobi Desert, you cannot found them in China or USA. This is why they are special.. My composition is special also. Let’s read with your friends and visited the Gobi Desert with me. A Jerboa in the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Kwok King Hay Kennis, Fiction: Group 1

his is the largest and beautiful desert in the world. It is a vast plain of sands and it is full of mystery. In this higher power and forces of nature, there is a little creature trotting off down the track, up the sand hill. This Jerboa is looking for a place to live in this summer. She hops and hops, from the left to the right, keeps looking for a good burrow to raise her Tbabies. Jerboa still tries to find a dwelling place. She keeps jumping around and digging hardly. Then, she has a big smile on her face as she is digging deep down to the earth. When she plans to settle down in her burrow, an old plate-tailed Gecko comes sliding off the sands. He sticks out his tongue and decides to attack her. Jerboa is very clever and she notices that someone is behind her. She bristles and shakes the dust from her body. She digs up all the sands and drops into the old plate-tailed Gecko. Jerboa manages to scare the old Gecko away and she finally succeeds. This summer, three little babies were born in the burrow. They are warm and damp. They sleep together all the times. Jerboa is always happy when she goes back home. Every day Jerboa looks at her children growing bigger and stronger. She is a wonderful mother to these three little Jerboas in the Gobi Desert. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Ng Tin Yee, Fiction: Group 1

o you recognize a natural high altitude ecosystem health barometer? That’s me! Snow leopard. My species and I were highly protected endanger species, which most of us live in Gobi Desert. Gobi Desert was very hot during the day, but very cold during the night, it can be -40. at night. I had thick skin so I cannot come out at daytime because DI cannot sustain the hotness. It was a harsh cold winter night, while I was drinking ice water as I am thirsty, two hunters appeared suddenly behind a bush, I was terrified. I kept running and they kept shooting me. After a while, I felt tired of this chasing and running game, so I hid in the thick snow, my skin had protective coloration, so it is not easy to find me in snow. As I wonder am I safe, I saw something sparkling not far away. Quietly, I moved closer and closer then saw some grass. That moment, I was full of hunger, so I ate it, not so soon, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I clean my paws as usual, when I lifted my paws, I froze. Three second later, I realized that I was invisible. I feel complacent, so I decided to play pranks on the hunters. I found the hunters not far away, they were setting a camp fire and roasting a deer. I threw a snowball to the fire and the fire was put out. “Who? Who did that?” a hunter shouted. “Ahh! Something bit me!” I pulled him all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. I felt exhausted after the pranks I played on the hunters, so I went to find a place to rest. I was walking lonely on the path covered with snow. Then, I spotted a sled three miles away. Without thinking, I ran forward and fell asleep quickly. When I woke up, I found myself in a cozy igloo. I looked at my paws again, this time, I saw them. I looked around the igloo. I noticed a man wearing red suit and pair of black boots. “It must be Santa Claus!” I told myself. Santa Claus turned his head and saw me. He gave me a collar and told me, “This is a present for you, It can make you become immortal.” I worked loyally for every Santa, until now. Till the 21th century, Santa Clauses wear beards to remember my adventure and loyalty, even though people think my adventure was just a tale. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Wong Yan Hui, Fiction: Group 1

nce there was a boy called Ben. He loved to travel. One day, he was lost in the Gobi desert with he camel. Luckliy, they had brought the things that they needed. At night, Ben shared two pieces of bread with his camel and built up a tent. His settled his camel and tied it to the tent. He laid on the cold sand and felt asleep. OThe next day, Ben woke up early in the morning. He quickly changed his new clothes and woke his camel up. They eat two pieces of bread, pack their stuff and set of again to find a way to get out. Time flies, it was at noon. Ben’s camel stuck its tongue out to show Ben that it was thirsty. Ben qiuckly fingured it out and got off his camel. He opened his camel’s mouth and poured half of his bottle of water into it. They ate some bread again. After a little rest, Ben jumped onto his camel and kept on going. They went further and further, until Ben suddenly saw someone. Thanks goodness, I am not alone. Ben thought. The person didn’t move. Ben was interested in that person so he moved closer to the person. Ben finally saw the person’s face clearly. He stopped dead. His mouth had fall wide open. A beautiful girl with her splendid long dress and a sparkling shiny crowd on her head. She was the most beautiful girl that Ben had ever saw. But before Ben could speak, the girl fell onto the sand and fainted. Ben was shocked. He quickly ran over to pick her up. Ben touched her head. She was having a high feaver. Ben put her down for a moment, he built the tent as fast as he could and carried her inside. He did the same way as what he did to the camel. He opened the girl’s mouth and poured the left-over water into her mouth. He put her safely onto the ground and cover her lower body part with his jacket. He ate his dinner with his camel and slept next to the girl. After a couple of days, Ben took care of the sick girl and she became stronger and stronger. Soon, her fever seemed to be gone. The girl was so pleased that she huge Ben tightly into her arms. Finally, she let go. She smiled at Ben and introduced herself,” Hi. I am Lenna the princess. I am the princess of the desert. But I was stupid that I didn’t bring any food... but thankgoodness you safed me. Thank you a lot. Really thank you! You are the prince of this desert now...” Ben thought that was funny. He said politely,” Thank you, my highness. But, the purpose of finding you was not about the adentity. I want to ask, do you know the way back to Kindland City?” All of a sudden, Lenna didn’t smile anymore. She said quietly,” I...I know the way but... I want you to stay with me in this beautiful desert.” Ben suggested, “My highness, why don’t you follow me back home? So we can live together with my family! I miss my family so much.” Lenna’s face suddenly light up and said,” Great! Good idea!” Then Lenna asked many things about Ben’s home like,” which street is your house in? Do you have sisters or brothers? Are they naughty? Are they...” Ben laughed and said, “It’s in Happy Street number 6, 23 floor, B room. You will know after you take us there, my highness.” Lenna said,” Close your eyes.” Ben closed he eyes. Suddenly, he felt a strong wind flew across him. Lenna Shouted,” We are home!” Ben opened his eyes. It was unbelievable. He was home, also with his camel and Lenna. He saw his parents. Ben thanked Lenna to bring him home. Starting from that day, Lenna and Ben lived happily ever after. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Primary School, Ng Hei Leong Leo, Fiction: Group 1

ataar lived with his family in a Ger in the middle of the Gobi desert. They were a nomadic family and moved around the desert with their herd of camels. Bataar helped his father look after the camels and took them out to eat grass everyday. One day Bataar took the camels out in the afternoon because it was cooler. He Bwalked until he found a patch of grass. He sat down and as the camels ate he was listening for wolves. Bataar lay down and closed his eyes. Suddenly the sky became dark. Bataar jumped up and saw a cloud of sand coming towards him. Soon he was covered in sand and he couldn’t see or hear anything. Quickly it was gone. Bataar stood and looked around, but there were no camels. His father would be furious with him. The camels were very important to the family and without them, they would have nothing. Bataar slowly started walking home but he quickly didn’t recognize where he was. Nothing looked familiar. He could see sand everywhere but no camels and no Ger. Up ahead he saw some rocks which looked as big as mountains. He was tired and thirsty as he had no water and the sun was still very hot. Bataar sat down behind one of the bigger rocks to keep out of the sun. He was thinking about his family and if they were worried about him or looking for him. The sun began to set and it became cooler. Bataar was hungry. He could see a plate tailed gecko crawling on the rocks but he knew he couldn’t eat that. There was some grass under a rock near him but he knew he also couldn’t eat that. Bataar hoped that someone would come soon. It was darker and colder and he wanted to go home. Suddenly the wolves came. Bataar could hear them howling. He was very scared. Bataar tried to hide behind the big rocks but he knew the wolves could smell him. He tried to stay calm as two eyes slowly came towards him. Bataar closed his eyes and waited for the wolf to attack but it didn’t. It did something very strange, it nuzzled Bataar’s leg. Bataar was so surprised he still didn’t move. The wolf moved its head and wanted Bataar to follow him. He stood up and carefully began to follow the wolf. The wolf walked next to Bataar going in the opposite direction to the way he had come. Bataar and the wolf walked for over two hours. Suddenly Bataar could see a Ger in the distance. It was his Ger! He could see the light inside and he ran towards it. Bataar ran straight into his mother’s arms. He was home and he was safe. His father was outside looking after the camels who had walked home by themselves after the storm. Bataar turned to say thank you to the wolf but he had already gone. New Tales of Gobi Desert Clearwater Bay School, Theo Cheng, Fiction: Group 1

ax was exhausted. The desert was hot and dry. He could only see sand all around him. Maybe he would be stuck in the Gobi Desert forever! Two days earlier, Max had been shopping in Hong Kong. Max loved shopping, playing on his iPad and using the internet. But Max also loved travelling, and went Mto lots of exciting places. The Gobi was not exciting, and he was disappointed. Max thought it was plain and boring. He walked off during the tour and now he was lost. “I wish I never came here,” he thought. He kept walking until he saw some footprints. The footprints led to a dark cave. Just then, he saw a small mouse with large eyes, long ears and grey fur. Max felt disappointed again. The mouse didn’t look very special, but suddenly it jumped ten feet! Max was amazed. “Hi, I’m a Jerboa mouse,” it said. “Who are you?” “I’m Max,” he replied. “I got lost in this boring desert.” “It’s not boring. You will be surprised at what you might find,” the mouse said. Then it scurried away. Max walked a little further, but felt tired. He sat down on a rock but when he touched it, it started to move. Max stepped back, and a bear stood up. “I didn’t see you,” Max said. “Why are you grey?” “I’m a Gobi bear and I can camouflage myself like a rock.” “Oh,” Max said, “that’s quite cool. Most bears are boring. What else can you do?” “Boring?! Well, I can eat you! I feel hungry!” Max screamed and ran away. Max kept going until he saw something up the mountain. It was white and grey. “Who is that up there?” Max said. Then he saw it was a goat. It was so high up! It jumped down. “I thought that the Gobi only had rocks and cactuses,” Max said. “You climb these mountains like a spider!” “I’m an Ibex goat,” it said. “I’m good at climbing mountains. The Gobi has wonderful mountains called the Altai. They are magnetic, so your compasses won’t work. You’ll get lost if you’re not careful.” “But I’m already lost,” Max started to say, but the goat disappeared. It was getting dark. Max felt very cold. Then, he saw a tent, so he went to see. He saw a man wearing animal skin and wooly clothes. “Who are you?” Max said. “I’m a ,” the man said. “This is my home. It’s called a gur.” “I’m so thirsty,” Max said. “We don’t have much water here in the desert,” the Nomad said. “Here, have some milk and noodles.” Max looked inside the gur. “Where’s your TV?” he said. “We don’t have one,” the Nomad said. “My family likes to play games and tell stories.” Max looked at the homemade clothes. The Nomad’s life was simple. They didn’t go shopping. They made things. They didn’t play with iPads, they spent time together. It was better than life in Hong Kong. Then Max looked up at the stars. He never saw stars at home. They were beautiful. The Gobi wasn’t boring – it was amazing. He thought about if he should stay. How about you? Do you want to stay or not….? Shortlisted

The Gobi Desert Clearwater Bay School, Rhea Saxena, Fiction: Group 1

he sky was pale blue with fluffy clouds making shapes above the Gobi Desert. There was a brown bear living in a cave, a dark spooky cave. Her name was Roygbiv. She liked to sing and dance when she was a bored. One afternoon, Roygbiv went to search for fire wood to cook vegetable soup. She went Tto the forests and looked for trees to cut with her axe. She was shocked, there were no trees, the forest looked bare. She felt sad and unhappy. She would not be able to cook vegetable soup. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw footprints. Slowly and curiously, she followed them to a circle of yurts. When she got there, Roygbiv, nervously knocked on the door. Anxiously he talked to tell them about the problem. The welcomed her into a discussion. They decided that every time they cut a tree down they would plant a new one. She felt happy but she still did not have her vegetable soup. The nomads gave her some of their wood to cook her vegetable soup. Then peeping through the clouds. She saw a wonderful rainbow with Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet. The rainbow she was named after Roygbiv! A Letter from the Gobi Clearwater Bay School, Ashley Zang, Fiction: Group 1

am the Gobi desert. I am Asia’s biggest desert and the world’s 5th largest. I’m formed by mountains blocking rain-carrying clouds from the Indian Ocean reaching to me. I am hot in the summer, I can go up to 122 degrees. I suggest you to bring sun cream if you want to visit. In the winter, I am cold as my temperature can drop to -40 degrees so Iif you come to me you better get yourself wrapped up tight. If you stay on me for one year you might get frostbites on top of your sunburn. In the sand there are lots of rocks so if you are going to walk on me you better look out because you might slip and cut yourself! Dinosaurs used to live on me. I was quite happy that time, but sadly one day they died. I was so small that I cannot remember what happened to them. Some people said there was an earthquake and some said a volcano erupted but you never know. Living on me has never been easy. Despite the extreme living condition, I have about 45 types of animals such as Bactrian camels, brown bears, golden eagle, marbled polecats and plate-tailed gecko, vipers, snakes and so on. Most of these animals are not friendly. Although I would like people to visit me every year I think you would not like to live on me. Now I am growing bigger every year because people don’t take care of the environment. So if you want to stop me from growing then you can tell your family and friends to stop littering or by driving less than before.

From the Gobi Shortlisted

The Video Game Diocesan Preparatory School, Cheung Kiu Ching, Nicholas, Fiction: Group 1

t was a boring evening. While my parents were out, I was playing a video game called “Wizards and Spells”. It’d been recommended by a friend. At first I thought the game was brilliant but soon I found out that my friend was wrong. It was just a “Harry Potter” knock off. I wanted to shout, “This is so boring!” ISuddenly, a wizard popped out of the screen and exclaimed, “You want excitement? I’ll give you EXCITEMENT!” I was so shocked. Suddenly, the wizard raised his wand and pointed it straight towards me. A lightning bolt struck me and I floated into the screen with the wizard. In a flash, the screen came into the view of a desert. Was it really? “The Gobi Desert! The biggest desert in the world!” I said. (Actually, it is only one of the biggest deserts in the world.) I saw a terrible sight: a herd of dinosaurs was charging towards me! I ran for my life. I didn’t want to get eaten by dinosaurs! What should I do? I wanted to hide but I saw a sword and picked it up. Wow! I realised it wasn’t actually a sword: it was a wand! I whirled the wand towards the sky and a gigantic tornado whizzed towards the dinosaurs and the wizard. “I surrender!” shouted the wizard. “If only you would send me out of the screen!” I ordered. I picked up a few of fossils and coins and I whizzed out of the screen. My mum asked me where I got the fossils and coins. I shouted, “I will tell you later!” I rushed into my room and locked the door; then I saw a book called “Gobi Desert”. I opened it; inside it said, “The Gobi Desert is one of the largest deserts in Asia. It was a part of the great , and along the Silk Road…” “Mum! Did you buy a book about the Gobi Desert for me?” I inquired. “No!” answered Mum. Then… who bought it for me? The man on the moon? Aliens? The wizard? Let me continue to play that game and find out! I turned on the television and played the game and the wizard popped out of the screen again and said, “Like that book, don’t you?” “Why did you give me the book about Gobi Desert?” I asked. “I wanted to say sorry. I may have frightened you,” the wizard mumbled. “Apology accepted and thank you for the book,” I murmured. Winner

A Desert Meeting Dulwich College Beijing, Jimmy Bowan, Fiction: Group 1

rom my carpet I can see beautiful rivers, the most astonishing valleys and far beyond, the gigantic mountains to China. To the west I can see endless rocks, no people, no villages or mountains and no rivers or valleys. My name is Jimmy Bowan and I have been flying for many weeks on my carpet. FSuddenly, far below, I see a tiny speck. I soar down like an eagle catching its prey to find a person with bright red skin, burnt from the sun. I carry him, asleep in my arms, to my cave. After a few days the man wakes up and shouts, “Dragon’s lair, dragon’s lair!” I fly in again and say, “This is not a dragon’s lair. It is my home.” “Wow! So much gold, platinum and jade. So many diamonds, sapphires and jewels of all sorts. You must be rich, like a genie,” the man says, amazed. “Yes. I am a genie”, I reply, “You are in my cave and you can have three wishes.” The man asks, “First, may I have a drink bottle of ever-lasting water?” “One drink bottle of ever lasting water coming up.” I shout. It appears in my hand out of nowhere. The man is shocked but he grabs the bottle and starts drinking, with drops of water dripping down his chin. The man starts to look stronger and taller as he drinks. His shoulders fall back and his skin becomes light brown. I think to myself; I never knew my water had such magic! The man looks strong now. He has black hair and a long wispy beard. He wears a thick fur coat on his arms and his legs are strong and sturdy. “What is your second wish?” I inquire. “I need food”, he demands. From out of nowhere, a huge goat on a appears cooking and sizzling over a fire. The man tears at it, eating like a pig, ripping at the leg and chewing chomp chomp chomp. He takes bite after bite, and says, “Gosh this stuff is great.” With meat spilling out of his mouth he commands, “and for my third wish I need an army!” In an instant, fifty thousand warriors on horses appear. They have thick, golden armour and sharp naked blades. They have bows behind their back with arrows stabbing out their armour, with two curved knives for each soldier. Their helmets and armour is stuck on so tight they need slaves to help take them off. The soldiers are on the most colossal, fastest horses you could ever see wearing matching armour. They all shout and cheer. The man says, “Good, now I want the same armour and horse as my army, but 15 times better.” I am surprised a man in an empty desert would want an army. As my carpet lifts me away up to the sky, I shout at the man, “What is your name?” “Ghengis Khan,” he yells back. “King of the !” Miracle in the Gobi Desert French International School, Sanaya Masurkar, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, in Mongolia, there lived a mighty King. The King of China wanted all of the Gobi desert to be part of his land. He could not attack because the king of Mongolia was very strong and had a big army. So the King of China sent one of his spies to poison the Mongolian king’s food and so he fell sick! The Mongolian king had Oonly one son, Ulagchi who was worried about his father’s health. One day, Ulagchi went to a great saint and asked him to cure his father. The saint replied, “There is a holy man at the end of the Gobi desert and he can help you”. So Ulagchi set on a journey to find this holy man. While on the journey, he met some snow leopards and made friends with them. One of the snow leopard allowed him to ride on his back for part of the journey. After leaving the snow leopard, Ulagchi kept walking for a day until he met some camels. The camel looked at him and asked, “Who are you”? Ulagchi realized that this was not an ordinary camel. So Ulagchi asked a lot of questions to the camel including math sums and the camel answered all the sums correctly. Ulagchi was pleased and gave the camel some of his food. Saying good bye to the camel he set off further in the Gobi desert. Ulagchi was tired. Suddenly he saw a dangerous brown bear. Ulagchi crept silently and then started running away from the bear. He ran so fast that he surprisingly reached the end of the Gobi desert. What did he find!! A holy man sitting calmly. Ulagchi said, “A great saint sent me here because my father is sick. Can you help me to improve my father’s health?” “Yes” said the holy man and handed him a potion. “Give this to your father in his meals”. Ulagchi thanked him. The holy man said “I have given you the potion what will you give me in return”. Ulagchi replied, “Anything you wish for”. The holy man said “You are a master in archery and I would like your right thumb”. So Ulagchi made a great sacrifice for his father and cut his right thumb and gave it to the holy man. The holy man laughed and said, “I was just testing you. I will attach your thumb again by using this holy water”. And he did. Ulagchi was happy and ran back to Mongolia so fast that he looked like a hungry lion. He reached his kingdom and went to his father and gave the potion to him. Every day, they would mix the potion in his father’s food and slowly the King of Mongolia started getting better. So much time had passed during Ulagchi’s journey, the King of China forgot about taking over the Gobi desert and the two kingdoms lived happily and peacefully for many years. Sandstorm at Gobi Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Chan Hoi Tung Daphne, Fiction: Group 1

eep to your stinky territory!” Hazelspot, the leader of yaks, cried out in the clearing of “ Gobi Lakes Valley. An elegant brown camel named Bao Yu sniffed. “The grassland is all ours! Keep out of our territory!” KBao Yu was the leader of Bactrian camels, who was now stamping her hoof, fuming. The grassland was getting smaller and smaller as most of the animals fed on the grass. The two leaders glared at each other, who had been fighting for the teeny meadow at Tian Shan Range. A silvery streak sped into the open space. The speckles on the snow leopard’s fur shimmered in the moonlight. Ivy, the snow leopard stared at the two hoofed mammals. Ivy trembled. Bao Yu glanced at her and hissed, “Ivy! Go away!” Ivy scampered away fearfully. But the memory of the two leaders, ready to slaughter, made her terrified… At Ivy’s home, her mother, Amber was taking care of her newly born cubs, “Ivy, can you go to Tian Shan Range to pick goyo fruits for your neighbour polecats?” “Okay…” Ivy grunted. “Oh thanks, freaking goyo fruits.” Ivy uttered under her breath on the way to Tian Shan Range. Suddenly, a brown Gobi bear emerged in front of Ivy. Ivy gasped. “Shruby? You scare me!” Shruby, the fortune teller of the desert rasped, “Let me tell you something... I can smell a storm brewing! It will scare the life out of you!” The thought sent shivers down Ivy’s spine. “But don’t worry, peace will come after!” Shruby added. Ivy sprinted to Gobi Lakes Valley at once. At the valley, the storm howled while the sand and dust swirled all over the place. The shocked animals were bustling to find a shelter. “Come! Here is a den. Forget the argument and get the animals here!” Ivy pleaded urgently. Ivy guided the little animals to the den. Bao Yu helped to keep Amber’s mewling cubs safe with another camel. Just when Bao Yu dashed to save a weak baby yak from being blown away, she tripped over a rock. Hazelspot helped her up. Bao Yu sent a grateful glance to Hazelspot. Every animal seemed to be helping each other at this disastrous moment. Ivy was looking for Amber frantically when suddenly a rusty bronze box caught her eye. Ivy pounced on it and clawed it open. Millions of glistening emerald-green grass seeds flew around and glided with the howling wind. The green sparkles descended on the sand dunes and the grass magically budded. The storm stopped at the same time. Hazelspot was shocked, “Goodness! Look at the sand dunes. They all turned greeeeeeen!” Everyone leaped in delight. The problem of overgrazing was solved in this era. Bao Yu whispered to Ivy, “Thank you, young one. You have saved the Gobi animals!” Ivy purred cheerfully to herself. “The prophecy from Shruby has come true! And I am the heroine!” Every Gobi animal enjoyed the peace that came after the sandstorm. The Fairy Safeguarding Yueyaquan Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Cheung Si Ya Elinor, Fiction: Group 1

he Gobi Desert is the second-largest and the most northern in the world. It is arid, cold, sandy, and rocky… and there’s one thing more under the sand – fairies! There are more than one-hundred fairies in the Gobi Desert! They protect the water and plants in the Gobi Desert. sunny morning, Fairy Rosie saw a big monster who wanted to steal all the water and plants near Yueyaquan Crescent Lake in the Gobi Desert. Rosie’s wand needed enough water to give magic, but her wand now only had little water. Rosie used the “Freeze Spell” to freeze the monster for just ten minutes. She then went to the Desert Palace to ask the Desert Queen to help. The Queen gave Rosie three bottles of desert, and said, “Take these bottles and find the monster. In each bottle, you need to put some sand in your hand. The first bottle is for making another fairy to talk to the monster. The second one is to let the monster feel regret. The third one is for repairing Yueyaquan Crescent Lake in Dunhuang.” Taking these three bottles of sand, Rosie started to find the monster again. It was a very long way to go, so she used her wings to fly. She used nine minutes. When she got back there, she could see him wriggling his fingers! Rosie sprinkled the first bottle of sand on her hand and threw them to the monster. Quickly, a beautiful fairy appeared next to the monster. “The Yueyaquan Crescent Lake in Dunhuang holds the precious water for us. If you steal all the water and plants in the lake, the people and the animals near the area will not have sufficient water and food. We cannot live without water. Please help. Please help to reserve the water resources,” the fairy said in a gentle voice. Then Rosie sprinkled the second bottle of sand on her hand and threw them to the monster again. The monster felt regret and said sorry softly. Rosie did the same thing the third time. Yueyaquan turned big and had a full lake of water. It looked great and beautiful. The monster went back home and Rosie kept the three bottles of water to safeguard the water and plants in the Gobi Desert. How Camels exist to Make Better Weather in Gobi Desert Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Kwok Oi Shun, Fiction: Group 1

he sun was shining so brightly, that if anyone dared to go to the Gobi Desert, it would nearly blind him and he would have dark, tanned skin. But Traveller Wang and his daughter, Si Mei dared to go. They were the only humans who dared to “fight” against this hot weather. TOne day, Si Mei said to her father, “This hot weather must be stopped.” Her father laughed. “Oh, only in your dream! Deserts are supposed to be hot! Not cold!” The days went by as the father and daughter headed on with their difficult journey but Si Mei’s “dream” was always there. She prayed and prayed continuously. Then one day, the Desert God that lived in heaven began to hear her prayer and understand about Si Mei’s determination. So they sent Mugo, a desert spirit, to Gobi Desert to find Si Mei. Si Mei was very frightened when she saw Mugo. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help you!” Mugo reassured her. Si Mei immediately felt that she wanted to run away but she had a feeling that Mugo could help her. Mugo gave her an animal that looked strange and she had never seen before. It was an animal with a hunch back and long legs. “This is a camel. We are sending it here to realize your dream!” he said. Then he vanished from sight. Si Mei blinked, as if she thought she was in a dream, but she wasn’t. The strange-looking animal was still looking at her. So she tamed it and tamed it. Until one day, she decided to ride on it. Just when the camel started to move, a swirl of sand was generated. The next moment, the camel’s footsteps caused a very strong wind. In no time, the magical wind blew the rain to the Gobi Desert. Si Mei and her father were overjoyed with tears. Soon, this news was spread out to the nearest village of the Gobi Desert. The villagers were very happy. Now they did not have to worry about the Gobi Desert’s eye-blinding and skin- burning weather. “Let’s have a big celebration!” a villager declared. All the villagers immediately agreed at that wonderful idea. They ate, drank and danced. It was fun. Everybody enjoyed the party! After the party, Mugo appeared. “It’s time for the camel to be returned to us.” He smiled to Si Mei. “Because of your whole-hearted determination, camels will be sent to the middle of the Gobi Desert once a year to bring wind and rain to the vast hot dry land. With camels in the Gobi Desert, the sun will be weaker but you will still sweat.” Then Mugo nodded at the camel. All of a sudden Mugo and the camel both disappeared. Traveller Wang was very proud of his daughter because he thought that Si Mei had discovered camels. Today, everybody still thinks that Si Mei discovered the camels, but only Si Mei and I know the truth! A Silk Trail Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Liu Sarah Roslyn, Fiction: Group 1

n the middle of the Gobi Desert, Princess Saradina was riding her royal camel to the Silk Road to find some silk. On the way to the Silk Road, she met a boy named Naranbaatar. He was going to the Silk Road, too. So, they went to the Silk Road together. On the way, there was a long which happened to be blocking their way. They didn’t Iknow what to do because they knew that river was poisonous. They looked at each other blankly. Then, a magical bird saw them and flew close to them. It asked, “Why are you looking troubled?” Saradina replied, “There is a long river which has green bubbles popping, but we have to go across the river.” The bird said to them, “Don’t worry, there is another path to the other side.” They became delighted. Hesitantly, they followed the bird. Very soon, they came to the other side of the river. When they got there, they saw a cave and it glowed! They were very surprised. When they went inside, there was some silk sparking with diamonds. “Wow, they are so beautiful!” Saradina exclaimed. Then they collected a lot of silk and went back home happily. But there was a huge, fat and ugly troll blocking their way. Saradina sighed sadly, “We… We… will ne…never go back home.” “It’s okay,” Naranbaatar said, “I can call for my friends, the fireflies, to help us.” Naranbaatar was shouting cheerfully at the open desert. Suddenly some fireflies appeared and brought the troll to the Jewel Rock where people collected beautiful jewels. Finally, Saradina and Naranbaatar went back home safely. When Saradina got back to the palace, she used the silk to make lovely dresses. From then on, everyone could go to Saradina’s palace to buy lovely dresses in the middle of the Gobi Desert. If you go there, don’t forget to ask around for the palace where you can purchase the beautiful jeweled dresses. Gobi Desert Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Wong Wun Yan, Fiction: Group 1

n Mongolia, there was a desert with soft, golden sand called Gobi Desert. Its contour looked like a human face with a raising hand. Gobi Desert was the most beautiful place created by the God. God also created Felit, an angel, to guard Gobi Desert. While it only took God one day Ito create the desert, it took God 3 days to invent Felit. Felit was a very mischievous angel. Once, he threw his friend’s magic wand during an argument with his friend. He was also curious about everything. When he was just 1 year old, he began asking tedious questions like what wings are for-- for a consecutive 5 days! At last, God told him off because Felit was too annoying. Felit loved to try new things. Once, he wanted to buy the newest magic wand available and he asked God to buy him. But the wand was very expensive; God didn’t want to buy. And Felit went on a hunger strike until God couldn’t stand it and ended up buying him the wand. Even though Felit was naughty, it didn’t stop God from loving him. God hugged and kissed Felit often. Felit although worked for God, he would often sleep during work because he wasn’t afraid of God. God was not strict and harsh on him. God never got angry when he did something wrong. Instead, God would only remind him not to do it again. But God still made up 1 rule for him—can’t water Gobi Desert or something bad would happen. But Felit couldn’t help with his curiosity. So Felit found a glass of water and poured it onto Gobi Desert. The moment water dropped on the sand of Gobi Desert, out popped hundreds of witches from below the ground. Felit was shivering and did not know what to do. He now knew what God meant but still, he had no idea how bad it could get. One of the wicked, long-nosed witches flew up to Felit and said in a giggly voice, “Thanks for saving me, my little angel,” “You’re welcome…” said Felit, shivering to come up with the best possible reply. “We did bad things, very bad things,” said the witch with a smirk. “And one time, we were caught by God. Just a lousy mistake and we were to be forever locked up and buried in here!” Growled the witch. Felit found the scenario familiar. He recalled his history lesson. The witch must be referring to worldwide meltdown a million years ago. “But how did you come back alive?” Felit wondered in his head. The witch seemed to have read his mind, “Thanks to you, Felit. If it had not been your precious drop of water, we would have never risen above the sand of this desert. We are revived!” Just as Felit began to piece the puzzle together, a witch rose behind him. “Sorry but we would have to kill you!” said the witches. Before Felit could ask why, he dropped onto the desert, like a dead fly. From then on, Gobi Desert becomes the heaven for witches and even God turned a blind eye to it. No one guarded the Gobi Desert anymore. The Gobi Desert Harrow International School Hong Kong, Chau Ka Man, Fiction: Group 1

n this story there is The Gobi Dessert. There will be lots of adventures. Once upon a time, there lived a husband and wife. They are very pool family because they have no dels for many years. One day they begged everyone who they know if they could take a dels home. “NO” They said angrily without any reason. So that they decided Ito travel all the way to China. The country that they never been before. Now they asked some people in China if they could have one dels to wear and take home but the Chinese people did not understand both of them. Luckily Husband has an idea “ let go to learn Chinese “good idea” said wife. Next they went to the Chinese school. Finally they both could understand Chinese and be able to speak Chinese. They went to ask one of Chinese Old Lady if they could take one dels in Chinese Language. “ Yes” said old Lady. After they took the dels then they would return to their Ger. “amazement” said wife then they both went into bed and said good night. Did you know that they did in their dream? They dream about an adventurous thing again. In they dream, there was dreaming about the next morning they both ate their healthy meal. Suddenly a sheep push the door opened and came in a Ger. The Sheep use its own cleaver idea so that the husband could understand what the Sheep indication. They brought the Sheep to see the Camel race in a field. After awhile, the wife asked her husband” if she could keep this sheep in our Ger. “Yes”said husband with a smile. The wife was delighted as she jumped up and down. The higher she jumped, the higher she was as she touched the bright blue sky. Could you stop please. “ask husband” as the wife landed on one cloud. “Yes “ but firstly I will have to jump down through the wind but it blow her into China. When she arrived, she saw the man who gave the dels to her. Then they talked together happily for while by using Chinese Language to communicated. “ Did you want to go to Gobi for seeing the Camel race? “The wife asked” Yes please “ answer by the man”. Then they both hold the hand on together and jump up to many cloud and arrived at the Gobi Dessert. Where the spot that they are aiming to be. They went to see the camel race again and then having a cup of tea together with husband and wife. Then the man just sleepover in their Ger. That is the dream that they thought it was real. The Mystery of the Camel Lisa Harrow International School Hong Kong, Xavi Flectcher, Fiction: Group 1

long, long time ago there was a camel called da Vinci. He painted a famous painting called Camel Lisa and told his two sons, Bob and Bill, to keep it safe. Years went by then one night Bob and Bill were snoring so loudly Rank Frank sneaked in and stole the camel Lisa! AIn the morning all Bob and Bill did was panicked! Just then a disgusting smell rose from where the painting had been. They instantly knew it was Rank Frank! They decide to go to where Rank Frank lived - the Gobi desert. So they asked Sandy, a wild ass, “have you seen a rotten camel called Rank Frank?” “No but I will help you.” “Really?” “I’m poor so I want to catch Rank Frank - you get 1,000,000 dollars.” “Err I don’t think so. It says double that number!” “Fabulous! But I don’t know where he lives, do you?” “Do you have a brain? Of course I don’t know Dumbo!” While Bill and Sandy were arguing, Bob saw a huge wave of heat came down on them. Uh-oh heat wave! Run for shade everyone! Bob and Sandy saw and Sandy screamed like a girl but more squeaky! It was so funny Bill laughed for two days! On the second day of laughing he said “who’s a squeaky jerboa?” “I am!” a voice came from a tiny hole. Bill was so scared he jumped to the ceiling of the Mogao cave where they were staying and a rock fell on Bob. Bob said nothing, not even ouch or a growl but his eyes were wide open at the jerboa. “Hi, I’m Jerry the Jerboa” he said as he hopped out of the hole. “Now I see why the cave’s name is Jerboa’s Hole,” said Bill trembling behind Sandy. “Do you know where Rank Frank lives? He’s stolen the Camel Lisa!” “You painted the camel Lisa?” said Jerry. “No but our dad did and that’s why Bill and I are here.” “So you aren’t a police camel?” asked Sandy. Just then a bad smell wafted into the cave – Rank Frank! Jerry’s ears flopped down to the ground and he scurried back into his hole. Bob sprinted outside but banged into a saxaul tree and fell onto a button. A fortress door opened and there, red as a rose but way browner, was Rank Frank! Rank Frank was silent for a moment. “Charge!” A manky Asiatic Ibex came running at Bob. His antler got caught in the Camel Lisa. He tried to stop but tripped over and the Camel Lisa went flying and landed in Bob’s hump. “Thanks!” Bob pressed the button again and said “g’day”, locking Rank Frank and the manky ibex into the fortress forever. “Bill” shouted Bob. “I got the Camel Lisa back!” “And I got us a new home” said Bill, pointing at the cave where a new sign said “Camels’ Cave”. They went into the cave and lived grumpily ever after. Honey Polo’s Adventures in the Gobi Harrow International School Hong Kong, Philippa Jamison, Fiction: Group 1

here was a man called Marco Polo, who had a dog called Honey. That’s me. I am Honey; Marco Polo’s dog. The Doge, the ruler of Venice, asked him to get some nutmegs and tea. While Marco Polo was packing his bag and getting ready to go along the Silk Road to China for the tea and nutmegs, I sneaked into his backpack, so he ended up taking me Talong with him. After many weeks of walking, we came to the Gobi Desert. It was an isolated shrivelled-up place. Luckily we met some nomads. They were very hospitable, so we spent the night with them. That night, one of their pregnant camels went missing, so I crept out of the yurt and I found some snow leopards. I asked them if they had seen any camels. They said no, but they also knew someone who had very good eyesight. Went up to see the Golden Eagle to see if he could see the camels. He could not see very well at night, so we had to wait until the morning. In the morning the eagle soared over the sky to see if he could see any camels. He saw a fox, a wolf and a camel - it was the camel we were looking for. Marco Polo and the nomads were also looking for the camel. One of the nomads had an eagle and it was also looking for the camel too. The wolf was coming closer, so the eagles attached the fox and scared the wolf away. Then they took the camel home. The eagles also fell in love. Later they married and had a baby eagle. Near the town of Turfan I sniffed out a dinosaur egg in the ground, and I dug it out. I wanted to hatch the egg so I warmed it up on my fur. When it hatched, a baby velociraptor waddled out! He sat on my back and grabbed my fur. Then he flapped his wings, and we started to fly! He rose up over the land-locked golden-brown desert, then over the Great Wall and into Xian at the end of the Silk Road. He put me down on the ground, and I grabbed some nutmegs and tea. Then we flew back to Marco. I couldn’t feel the nutmegs in my paws. I looked down and saw a jerboa playing with them. We chased him down a gold mine, where Marco found lots of gold and also got the nutmegs back. We headed back to Venice, and we met the Doge. The Doge was a little tired waiting for her tea and nutmegs for 9 years, but she was pleased to get the gold! She said “this meat is a bit tasteless. I think I need some salt and pepper. Where do you get salt and pepper from? ....”. Magic Trip to Present and Ancient Gobi Desert Harrow International School Hong Kong, Samuel Lee, Fiction: Group 1

y friends Pankie, Nicholas, Frankie and I went on an amazing holiday to the Gobi Desert in 2013. Four of us rode a giant camel with four humps into the desert. When we were riding, we felt boiling hot and the wind was blowing towards us. We hid under the camel. Between the legs of the camel we saw a tall and beautiful Mmountain with a waterfall. We walked to the mountain and saw nothing but just sand on the ground. It was just an image made by nature. It was a mirage!!! We were upset! We walked on and saw some Gers – houses made by Mongolian people in the Gobi Desert. We saw some Mongolian people and they invited us to their Ger. We were pleased at the Gers because they were real. They made us some horse milk and traditional tea. While we were sipping the milk and tea, we looked up at the ceiling and saw a fan turning really fast… the fan suddenly took us through the roof and we went to the ancient Gobi Desert 100,000 years ago! We found a gigantic dinosaur with a long neck, and we were frightened. But, it was friendly. Before, I had read it in a book and its name was Apatosaurus. It only ate plants. The ancient Apatosaurus let us ride onto it. I climbed up its neck and said “Hello” to it. Suddenly, we saw a teeeeeny weeeeeny little green dot. It was a cactus!!! Then, we saw a big pile of water and it was a water fountain!!! We were extremely thirsty and we jumped down to drink loads of water excitedly. Afterwards, we walked on and came to a road. We saw a bus stop! We were curious and waited to see if a bus really would come. A bus in golden camouflage did come!! The bus had a sign that said “TO 2013 MONGOLIAN FAN”. I said “Goodbye” to the Apatosaurus and got on the bus. It drove away, and on the way, we saw the water fountain again. We told the driver to stop the bus and wait for us. We drank the water happily. We got back on the bus and it drove away. Suddenly there was a sand tornado and it whirled us back to the 2013. The bus was parked beside our giant camel. We rode the camel away from the Ger and saw our home just in front of us!!! I looked into my pocket and saw some Apatosaurus eggs. That night I slept with them and dreamt of the Gobi Desert 500,000 years ago! But it was just the sea! The eggs in my pocket cracked and some baby dinosaurs came out. I was scared they would get drowned and I woke up. I heard some sounds as loud as a horn and I opened my eyes. It was the telephone ringing!!! The Thief That Became Good Harrow International School Hong Kong, Alexander O’Sullivan, Fiction: Group 1

ifty years ago, a Chinese bandit chief, called Ming, was searching for treasure maps in the Gobi Desert. He was loud, rough and tough. He was desperate to find treasure because he believed there must be gold under the golden sand! Inside a yurt in the Gobi Desert, lived two Mongolian brothers called Danny and FHans. Danny was a Mongolian chief who could make magic and Hans was a motorbike expert. They found a treasure map from under some shiny sand. One month back, Ming and his gang set off from China to Gobi Desert by horse. They snuck into every yurt to search for treasure maps. One night, Ming found a wonky treasure map on the table inside Danny’s and Han’s yurt. He took it and jumped onto his horse. He had lost his gang and it was too dark to find them! Next morning, Ming went on top of a sand dune searching for his gang. Instead of finding them, he saw Danny and Hans riding a motorbike towards him. They recognized the map Ming was holding. Ming rode for his life. He came to a cave, left his horse and ran deeper and deeper into the cave to hide. As he went deeper, it got darker and colder! Danny and Hans left their motorbike and went into the cave but could not find Ming. They were furious. They then went to the Chinese border. Danny cast a spell, ”Make the Gobi Desert spread into China for a hundred years!” Ming was still in the cave. He came up to a passage that went on, on, on and so on. He was cold, hungry, tired and wished he was home. He came to a dead end with a sign that said, “You May Make A Wish!” He was so thrilled that he could go back home. Suddenly, he saw something sparkling from the stone. He turned around and found himself surrounded with gold. This was the treasure the map showed! Then he closed his eyes to make a wish to go home. When he opened his eyes, he was still in the cave. Nothing had happened. He tried ten more times, he was still in the cave. Suddenly, he saw some golden stairs. He followed them up to a house that looked familiar. He thought he was home but he was wrong. He found a Canadian called Ivan in the house. Ming was disappointed and sick. Ming begged Ivan to bring him home and give him food. Ivan said to Ming, “Give me your treasure map first.” Ming said, “OK but you must give me food and bring me home.” Ivan asked, “What do you want to eat?” “Dumplings!” said Ming. Afterwards, they set off home. After ten whole days, they arrived at Ming’s home. Ivan gave him money to buy some fields to farm. Since that time, Ming has never wanted to be a thief again. Many years later, Ivan started to mine the treasure.

The Legend of Mongolia Harrow International Hong Kong, Abraham Yeung, Fiction: Group 1

nce in ages past lived a fierce and angry giant who had a hatred for the Mongols. His entire life was full of the story of the invasion when every single baby giant died, as well as the enormous, clumsy giants who were too slow to escape. He knew it was only his parents’ group, teenagers at that time, who escaped safely. His fortunate parents told Oabout their quest for revenge when he was a teenager and he had never forgotten it. Giantia, the home of the giants, was a land of lush forests, heavy rainfall, exotic flowers and wonderful animals. It was a warm, sunny and magical place where the giants feasted, played and lived happily. The Mongols renamed Giantia, Mongolia, when they conquered the land. This made the escaped giants really angry with the Mongols and they decided to take revenge by changing their beautiful and magnificent land into a place that the Mongols would find very unpleasant. A secret plan was hatched with the Shaman Giant: Mongolia would lose its beautiful forests, creatures and warm climate. First, a group of giants would allow themselves to be captured by the Mongols. Second, the giants would drop some magic pebbles when they got to Mongolia. Finally, the giants would chant a magic spell. All the giants trusted him even though they were afraid so they did what Shaman Giant told them to do, but they failed because they got caught in a net! Quickly, they used a pebble to make the net disappear and ran away. They went to Shaman Shaman Giant to ask for help. He was unsure so they went to ask Shaman Shaman Shaman Giant for help. He thought of firing pebbles into Mongolia and chanting a magic spell but the Mongols had a 6km high wall so this plan was impossible. The giants then went to ask King Giant for help, but he couldn’t think of a plan. The next stop was More Important King Giant but he too couldn’t think of another way. After an evening break, they went to ask Wizard Super for help but he said, “If you want that to happen the whole world would become like Mongolia.” So the giants went to ask Most Important King Giant but he also found the challenge too difficult. The solution was proving hard. It exhausted the giants. Supreme King Giant was their final hope. The giants felt very nervous as they asked his opinion. He thought long and then said they must paint the pebbles so that the pebbles looked like Easter eggs and lay these magic pebbles out to be seen while they hid in the grass quietly chanting a magic spell. It worked! Today Mongolia is a land of sand and grass. The water has disappeared and the climate is bitterly cold. Today’s Mongols can only dream of the time their land was warm and sunny and life was easy. The end Gold of the Gobi HKBUAS, Agatha Wong, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, there was a mystical secret passage in one grey boulder in the Gobi that leaded to…blocks of precious yellow shiny shimmery pure gold. Lots of professional expert explorers tried to find it, but … all failed shamefully. Just one little 7 year old boy had the luck. Just one. O“Good morning! Quick, let’s go out for a nature walk.” Eric said happily. “We’re going to explore the Gobi, aren’t we?” As he walked along the elegant Silk Road, he saw something peculiar. One boulder had a white-hot lightning scar! So Eric knocked at it, and to his surprise, it opened up, revealing a secret passage. “Mom! Dad! You’ve gotta look!” Eric shouted. Eric’s Mom and Dad, Agatha and Gilbert, stared openmouthed at the sky-blue passage that led to the wonderful gold as they stepped in coolly. They stared even more openmouthed when they saw the gold. “Oh my gold! No…Oh my god!” Agatha screamed. “We’re going to make a fortune with all that Gobi gold from the Silk Road!” Just then, the guardian of the glowing gold, a rare lush gold snow leopard, walked calmly in. “You’ll pay for that!” the snow leopard growled “You’ll pay for that!” “Eeee! Help me! I’m scared of snow leopards!” Agatha shrieked to Eric and Gilbert, ducking behind Gilbert quickly. Eric spotted a spell carved into a wall. He read it out. “Gobi, Shui le?” (which means “Please sleep, the Gobi” in Putonghua Chinese) he read. Suddenly there was a huge boom, and then when Eric and his terrified parents opened their eyes, the leopard was snoring on the passage floor. The tip-toed out, not trying to take any more gold, as they were scared that the snow leopard will wake up. “Hhip, hhip, hhooray for EEric!” they sang merrily while their teeth were chattering loudly as they went home in the cold starry night out of the Gobi Desert. Floo-Floo the Forgetful Wizard’s Crazy Food Party HKCCCU Logos Academy, Arwyn Wong, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, Floo-Floo, the forgetful wizard decided to throw a party. He tried his best not to forget anything for the party. He sent out invitations, cleaned and decorated his home. When it was the day of the party his friends showed up and that’s when he remembered what he forgot. O“Oh no! I forgot about the food! How can I be so forgetful?” said Floo-Floo. He quickly cast a spell with a wave of his wand. Poof! The party now had food, but something was wrong. The food got up and started to walk, run and jump around! Worst of all the food started to make mess of things! The fries dove into bowls of ketchup, the burgers were rolling everywhere leaving their toppings all over the place, cookies splashing in glasses of milk and the cupcakes were hoping on and off the guests! All of Floo-Floo’s friends were caught in the middle of it all. They got splatted on, squirted on, poured on, sprinkle on and even spilled on by the crazy moving food! “Oh my, this wasn’t the spell I wanted to cast!” said Floo-Floo. Floo-Floo’s friends were running around and trying to stay away from the crazy moving food that were making a mess of everything and everyone. Floo-Floo tried to stop the crazy moving food with a swoosh of his wand, but it didn’t work. The crazy moving food were now all wearing party hats! Floo-Floo tried again to stop the crazy moving food with a whip of his wand, but it didn’t work. The crazy moving food were wearing party hats and now had balloons too! Floo-Floo tried again to stop the crazy moving food with a swish of his wand, but it didn’t work. The crazy moving food were wearing part hats, holding balloons and now had noise makers! Floo-Floo the forgetful wizard just couldn’t remember the right spell to change the mess making food back to normal food. “I tried all these spells, but nothing worked. Oh my, I wonder what the right spell can be?” said Floo-Floo scratching his head. As Floo-Floo tried to remember the right spell to stop the crazy moving food something unexpected happened. The food started to party with all his friends. Everyone, even the food were having a fun time. Floo-Floo’s party was an awesome success! Floo-Floo the forgetful wizard’s party was the talk of the town ever since. Gobi Desert Dinosaur Expedition 2014 Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Wing Hei Chan, Fiction: Group 1

his is a story about an exciting expedition that happened 216 years into the future! Katada, Tom, and Joanne are best friends and famous scientists. They live on the planet closest to the sun - Mercury. They share one big secret: they love dinosaurs! One day when they came home after work, their favorite news program, the Daily TUniverse News reported, “Wah-duh-doo-Gobi-gibi-Dasart-blah-pini-arth!” This is Mercurynese for “Dinosaur fossil eggs have been found in the Gobi Desert on a close by planet called Earth!” Katada was so excited that she ran to the phone to frantically punch in the telephone number of her best friend on Earth, Ada. “Hi! Is that you, Ada?!” said Katada. “Whoa! Hold your horses!” said Ada. Katada eagerly asked “Can we go to Earth for an expedition? I want to find dinosaur eggs! I saw on the news that some were found in the Gobi Desert!” Katada, Tom and Joanne recruited fourteen more scientists to join the team. They were all brave, brainy, adventurous and of course, CRAZY about DINOSAURS! Katada and her team packed up their secret tools into their colorful space rocket. The team sat down, buckled their seatbelts and counted down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BLAST OFF!!! The rocket landed very smoothly in Mongolia. The team took a super taxi with 18 seats (that is not a normal taxi!) to the Gobi Desert. Because the taxi driver did not understand Mercurynese, all 17 scientists began to repeat: “The Gibi Disert! The Gubi Desert! The Cubi Dasart!” The driver finally understood the voices were shouting for the GOBI DESERT! By the time they arrived, it was already midnight. They built their super powered solar camping tents and slept well for eight hours. When they woke up, there were six camels waiting outside their tent. Ada gave out maps to the team and guided their camels towards the dinosaur eggs. The team rode for a very tiring three hours and sixteen minutes and then Katada found a very interesting pond of water: it was super glittery and looked magical. When they walked closer, the pond disappeared! Katada felt curious and wanted to see what was under this magical pond. The whole team started digging with their bare hands! Suddenly, Joanne found a round, oval shaped sphere...”Was that an egg?!” she thought. She touched, smelled and looked carefully at it, then screamed “EVERYONE LOOK OVER HERE! I FOUND A DINOSAUR EGG! It’s right in my hands!” The team of scientists was so happy that they got to see a real dinosaur egg in life and person! The team of scientists was exhausted and it was time to go back to Mercury. They promised Ada they will return to uncover more dinosaur eggs! When the expedition team arrived back in Mercury, they became even more famous! Days passed, months passed, years passed, the team of crazy scientists ended up going back to earth 183 times and found 214 more dinosaur eggs! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Sum-Ki Natalie Cheung, Fiction: Group 1

any years ago in the beautiful Gobi where the grass was jade green, the trees were emerald in colour and the flowers were like different colours of beautiful jewels, there lived a farmer named Tobin who sold dairy cattle. Tobin’s dairy cattle had black spots and snowy white coats. They produced the Mcreamiest cheese, the most mouthwatering yoghurt and the finest milk in the world. Since the dairy cattle were so good, people from far away heard about them and came to buy the cattle and their dairy products. One day, a renowned Italian chef came to Gobi to buy a dairy cow. Tobin wanted to impress the Italians and so he sold Lily, his finest dairy cow, to the chef. The Italian chef went back to his own famous Italian restaurant, il Babbo Natale ristorante (the Santa Claus restaurant) where he used the Gobi cheese to make the most delicious macaroni cheese, tastiest pizzas, and yoghurt gelato. The Italians loved the Gobi cattle and they wanted to breed a similar breed. When Tobin heard this, he was furious. Tobin thought “I shall sell all my cattle to the Italians and pretend that they are another finer kind of breed. The cattle will breed and breed and more dairy cattle will graze all the grass in beautiful Italy. Italy will then become a desert one day.” He whispered with glee, “The Italians will then start buying dairy cattle from me again and I will raise the price of my cattle! Hee hee hee, I will be rich!” In Italy, the people loved the cattle and the cattle grazed all the grass in pretty Italy. Eventually, they were left with no grass and scenic Italy was becoming like a desert. The Italians cried and wailed and begged Ceres (an ancient Roman Earth Goddess) to help them. Ceres saw the Italians in her magic mirror and thought one day, “I must punish this wicked Tobin for selling these ridiculous dairy cattle to the Italians.” Ceres started to work on a bitterly cold night and poured buckets and buckets of sand from heaven to Gobi and very soon, Gobi became a desert. When Tobin woke up, he was stunned as he screamed, “Daaaaaah…” before he fainted. His cattle died gradually because there was no more juicy jade green grass for them to graze on. From that day on, Gobi was no longer a place of grassland with summer flowers. Instead it became a chilly desert with only camels, golden eagles, snow leopards and jerboas. No dairy cattle could be seen from then on. Gobi became a very sandy place. The Italians realized that some gods had been watching over them and they knew they had to manage the grazing of the dairy cattle properly. Italy then turned back to normal while Gobi remained a desert. That’s not very fair, isn’t it? So don’t upset Ceres ever again, because she will not give you another chance. A Gobi Secret Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Valerie Kaitlyn Huang, Fiction: Group 1

n a sunny day, marbled polecat Sara was eager and delighted because she had a baby called Victor. Sara and Victor were busy finding food. They collected beetles, little hamsters, birds, grass and insects; and the food tasted delicious. The most evil snow leopard Evian noticed them. Because he didn’t have a baby, he secretly wanted to steal OVictor. He thought of a plan: he would dress like a polecat and would wear an orange and black spotted coat. Evian ordered the dust storm to cover the air and make it dark so that he could sneak inside Victor and Sara’s burrow. The dust storm was very cloudy, and there were lots of tiny rocks and sand. Evian snuck into burrow. He was trying to find Victor. Victor was in the room getting ready to sleep. When Sara went out to catch a lizard for a midnight snack, Evian quietly opened the door and said to Victor, “Umm….Victor, I am your mum Sara! Can I bring you to catch food with me?” Victor agreed, and as soon as he peeked out the door, Evian snatched him and took him away. The next day, Bactrian camel Humphrey, a friend of Sara’s, came to tell her that Victor had been caught by the wicked snow leopard Evian. Because of his long eyelashes, Humphrey had been able to see through the dust storm, so he knew who had stolen Victor. Sara got very worried, so she went to Evian’s lair in the Altai Mountains to save baby Victor. She ran as fast as a rocket. Victor was very terrified and shocked because he had been caught by Evian and the lair looked dark. It also smelled stinky and smelly like rotten tofu. It was more horrifying when he saw lots of poisonous snakes – Central Asian pit vipers – over there. There were even photos of Evian the evil snow leopard. Sara rushed up to the mountains and saw Evian’s lair. She felt tired and in pain after she had climbed up the mountains. The mountain had felt rough underneath her paws. She crept inside the lair. Because she was cousins with the skunks in North America, she could spray just like them. She immediately used her smelly spray and made Evian faint. She even used her magic power, the goyo plant, and she gave him the poison while he was asleep. When Evian woke up, his stomach felt painful and he felt disgraceful. The goyo plant left a disgusting taste in Evian’s mouth. Evian returned Victor back to Sara and apologized because he didn’t want Victor to grow up and do the same thing. Sara also forgave Evian because she knew that Evian wouldn’t do that again. At last, they became good friends. The Golden Eagle Kennedy School, Mira Chung, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, in the Gobi Desert, there was Gazelle and Bear. They were best friends and lived together in a bright cave in the North. One day, a snow leopard moved in, there was BIG trouble because he looked fierce. Bear and Gazelle were scared. One day Snow Leopard tried to destroy their cave. Gazelle and Bear dug up rocks to put in front Oof the cave. This helped keep Snow Leopard out until Golden Eagle came. Golden Eagle spoke!!! He said; ‘I will save you. Just you wait!’ And guess what! Golden Eagle swooped down and picked up Gazelle and Bear with his soft talons. Bear And Gazelle were saved! But Snow Leopard followed them. ‘Stay calm.’ said Eagle. But did it work? No. It did not! Golden Eagle dropped Bear and Gazelle on the VERY HARD GROUND. Don’t worry. They didn’t get hurt. Snow Leopard got a fright and ran away. Did it work now? NO… Now a sandstorm was approaching!!! Penguin came rushing out of NOWHERE! That’s when Penguin said; ‘My name is Brady. I know how to help you. I have helped a seal, a puffle, and many penguins and creatures in need.’ Brady had a silver and very old catapult which he used when he went to save other animals. Brady pulled out a new purple ladder. He said, ‘Hurry! Climb up! And get into the basket!’ Soon, Brady catapulted them out of the North of the Gobi Desert. They landed in the West. And they were home! And Brady left. He left a note saying; ‘WHAT IS 22 + 95?’ Gazelle And Bear swapped unsure looks. 292? 633? 9005? 1223? 879? 102? What is tt? Can you fill in the dotted line? 22 + 95 = ------Brady had left the note because it was a question he had wanted to ask ALL DAY.

THE END Coleisius Kashun’s Gobi Desert Adventure Kingston International School, William Davidson, Fiction: Group 1

oleisius Kashun is hard at work studying for his Chinese assessment exam. Yee Ha, his classmate the cowboy, knocked on the door of his room. ‘Look! I have found a mysterious map.’ said Yee Ha. Yee Ha hates studying, and also finds a reason not to. C‘Where did you get it?’ asked Coleisius. ‘I found it whilst digging for gold on the seabed,’ replied Yee Ha. ‘It looks like it is from ancient times!’ The two of them looked at the map. Then Yee Ha cried ‘Lets follow the map!’ The mysterious showed an ‘X’ in an area north of Ulan Bator. Coleisius and Yee Ha waved at a passing taxi, and begged to be driven to the airport. They hopped onto a plane to Beijing and then changed onto an old WWII war plane to Ulan Bator. The plane brought them to Ulan Bator. They borrowed a second hand olive green Land Rover from Yee Ha’s friend, General KaoShung and promised General KaoShung that they will bring him some diamonds. They drove out of the city and stayed in a ger. The next day, Coleisius and Yee Ha jumped onto the Land Rover. Suddenly some robbers riding camels sped down the hill towards the Land Rover. One robber said to Coleisius Kashun: “ Where are you going?” Yee Ha shouted ‘Look, they are trying to steal our car. Quick, drive off!’ Coleisius stepped hard on the accelerator. The robbers grabbed the back of the Land Rover but the Land Rover swung left and then right and then left and then right. The robbers fell off. Yee Ha and Coleisius founded the hidden valley marked X on the map. They took out their shovels and looked around. There was no one for miles and miles. They dug and dug. It was hot and the sun was setting. ‘I am tired’ said Yee Ha. ‘Lets just go home’ ‘Wait! I can see some gold!’ They found a big brown box, which is where old. It looks to be from ancient time. They opened the lid and ….. POOF! WHOOSH! There was a big loud noise. Poow! Wow! ‘Wake up Yee Ha, Wake up Coleisius!’ It was the middle of the afternoon, and Coleisius Kashun’s mommy is waking the two boys up. ‘You have to revise for your Chinese assessment tomorrow. And then practice piano’ said Coleisius’ mommy. Coleisius looked and Yee Ha, and Yee Ha looked at Coleisius. Was the Gobi Desert adventure a dream? Unicorns of the Gobi Kingston International School, Elaine Hui, Fiction: Group 1

n the golden Gobi Desert, the sky was pale blue, under it there was a little green land named “Valley of Rainbow Unicorns”. It was warm and quiet. In the valley lived two pretty unicorns, one was called Rainbow , and the other was Princess Bella. They were good friends, and loved to fly around the valley and watch the camels carrying people and heavy Igoods moving slowly in the deserts. One sunny afternoon, the unicorns were still flying around the valley and watching the camels walking along the Silk Road, carrying so many goods on their back. But this time, they felt bored, so they laughed at camels’ humps “Your back is so ugly, it looks like you are carrying a hill, I can tell that’s why you move so slowly!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the camels. Princess Bella nodded and said: “Look, our backs are so smooth, and we even have wings, we can fly much faster!” The camels were angry with the unicorns and they were also tired and thirsty after walking for so long. They did something horrible! They sneaked into unicorn’s valley and drank up all the water inside. Suddenly, all the green leaves turned into yellow, flowers faded and fell down… When Rainbow Dash and Princess Bella got home and found what camels did, they were furious and decided to get revenge. The camels went back to their road, talking happily about how the two unicorns would look like after they found out all the water was gone. Just then, there was a loud BANG, a huge rock fell down right in front of them and blocked their way. The camels were so scared, they looked up and found the two unicorns, they did not say anything but sent the camels to a deep, black hole. At this time, the camels knew the unicorns wanted them to learn a lesson. The two unicorns were so sad, and they decided they needed to find water to save their valley. But this time, they needed to walk 100 miles to find closest stream. When they reached the water, both of them were sleepy, exhausted and thirsty. So, they drank half of the water in the stream. Now they understood how hardworking these camels! At last, they used a magic water bottle to bring the left half water home and saved their green land. Meanwhile, the camels felt very sorry about what they did. After the unicorns saved their home, they hurried to help the camels out of the dark hole. Finally, they all learnt a lesson about how to respect others and sharing. They become good friends. Carnival at Gobi Desert Macau Anglican College, Dominique Wolfsgruber, Fiction: Group 1

t is the carnival season in the Gobi Desert. The carnival is the most exciting party in the desert. Many people around the world take part in it. It was one day before the grand opening to be held at sunset on the following day. The dunes were closed to camels so people could decorate the desert. On both sides of the main Icarnival area, there were colourful lanterns and streetlights. Camels were decorated with red and yellow saddles. People were rehearsing for the opening act of the carnival. The seven years old girl, Abia was one of the Mongolian dancers who would lead the opening dance in the carnival. She has been practising her dance over three months with the other twenty four dancers. For the last week, the dancers practised every day for more than two hours. That evening before the carnival, Abia was dancing so much that she sweated and her clothes became wet. She caught cold on the way home. Her lips turned blue. Her eyes were watery. Abia was so worried. She did not want to miss her performance in the carnival. Her father went to Ulan Batar, the nearest town, to buy medicine. But every shop was closed, as people were busy preparing for the carnival. Later at night, Abia’s grandmother came for a visit. She brought some soup, made of ephedra and honey. “I heard that you are sick, Abia. Therefore, I went out to get some ephedra. It is a special plant which only grows in the desert, in the sandy soils under direct sunlight, near the oasis. It is a natural medicine for fever and cold. It is perfect for you, Abia. Drink it all,” said grandmother. “Thank you, grandma for the soup. It smells so good,” said Abia. She drank all the soup, and started to yawn. Her grandmother stayed by her side until she fell asleep. In the middle of the night Abia sweated, and the fever was gone. The next morning, Abia woke up and took a shower. “I feel the strength and I am so excited! Thank you for taking care of me,” Abia gave a kiss to her grandmother and got ready for her dance. She drank her camel milk and ate cheese bread. After breakfast, Abia climbed up the camel to ride with her father to the carnival area. The carnival was wonderful and people talked about the opening dances for days. The Balinese performed Kecak dance or known as Monkey dance. About 100 male dancers wearing sarong, danced in a circle around a fire. There was a Tinkling dance from Malaysia, performed by beautiful girls wearing long sparkling kebaya. Above all, the Mongolian children did a spectacular opening dance, accompanied by live drums and banjo. Abia danced very well. She was so proud of herself. An amazing firework by China ended the splendid evening. Everyone went home with a smile. Aiba kissed her grandmother and fell asleep next to her, in satisfaction. The Adventure in Gobi Desert Marymount Primary School, Leeanne Lau, Fiction: Group 1

t was the summer holidays, my family and I were on a trip across the world, when we came to China. Suddenly the airplane ran out of fuel so we landed in the Gobi Desert. We found camels to ride on. The camels led us to an oasis. We lived there for a few days. Then, we set off to find other peole that knew how to survive in the desert. We saw two Iother English people and asked if they knew how to get out of the the Gobi desert. They didn’t know, so we asked them if they could join us. They agreed right away. Then we led them back to the oasis. That night,we planned how to get out of the Gobi Desert. The other people told us their names. One was very fat,and the other was muscular.The fat one is James,and the other Joe. Their names both start with J because they were brothers. James is 15 and Joe is 21. My parents took care of us like we were brothers and sisters. But, one day James and Joe said “We want to get out of here,we want to go home.” But, my parents said” We can’t get out of the desert, plus we don’t know the way out of the Gobi Desert.” I thought for a few minutes, then I had an idea and asked “Does anyone have a compass?” Then James spoke up and he said that he had a compass. I said ”Great! Now that we have a compass we can find our way back.” We were really lucky. The next morning, we set off to go back home, we found the Silk Road then, we followed it to China. Soon, it was night time so we climbed off camels and ate some fruit and other things. We slept in sleeping bags and sang a few songs. I could not sleep that night, I kept on thinking what would happen to us. Would we get home? Would we get lost? Would we run out of food? The next morning we found our airplane. But, they could not fix the plane. So, they offered us to live on the plane,we said okay. Of course we would like to live on a plane. So we parked our camels outside the plane, so we could walk them like pets. As for food, we could eat yummy food. Yay! We spent the whole day watching movies and playing games. In a few days it would be school again. Luckily, they got the plane up and running. We flew back to Hong Kong. When we got back, we invited James and Joe to our house. Then they said they lived upstairs on the seventh floor! I was very happy to know they were neighbours. So, after few days, everything went back to normal. I went back to school every day. And mom and dad made me write about our adventure, so I did so that is the story your reading right now. Shortlisted

New Tales of the Gobi Desert Peak School, Anson Li, Fiction: Group 1

n Year 9999, many places on Earth were heavily polluted; especially in City Choka, there were too many factories and traffic; many people there had serious health problems because of that. As the problem was becoming very serious, the President of City Choka assigned Professor Tom Jerry to explore a solution. IAfter many discussions, they decided to find another place with a good and fresh environment to move their people there and then they could clean up City Choka. The Gobi Desert in the Northern part of Asia was their choice because it had clear, blue sky and very fresh air; very suitable for living. So, Prof. Tom led a team to go to the Gobi Desert to build up a city for their people to move there. At the same time, some aliens from Planet Laka were also looking for a place for their citizens to move to because their planet was going to explode soon. The King of Planet Laka assigned Professor Buluke and his team to make a trip to Earth to explore. When their spaceship landed on Earth, he saw a group of humans working there. When Prof. Buluke walked closer, he saw his old friend Prof. Tom, they had met each other in a cross- planets conference many years before. They hugged each other and found that they both had a similar reason to come here. After discussion, they decided to build a city for both humans and aliens to live. The aliens had some magic technology to do heavy construction super-fast with zero pollution, so, they were responsible for building roads, highways, tunnels, bridges, railways, man-made harbors and rivers as the desert was dry, hot and lack of water. The human team was responsible for beautiful buildings, houses, malls, shops and decorations of the city. At last, they also built a statue with Prof. Tom and Prof. Buluke shaking hands to represent the success of this project and they named the city as Ali-Hu-Peace City. At this happy moment, when they city was ready for the human and alien citizens to move in, a big group of people suddenly arrived. Their leader was Baddy, he was a very greedy person who owned a gold-mining company. They came here because their advanced gold-exploring equipment showed there was a lot of gold under the Gobi Desert. Baddy wanted to use a bomb to destroy the city and get the gold under it. When the two professors knew his plan, they tried to discuss with Baddy but Baddy refused any discussion as he wanted the gold immediately. In order to stop him, the two professors could only call for help! Prof. Tom blew his newly invented ‘animal-whistle’ to call all the camels and donkeys on the Gobi Desert to surround all the bad guys. Prof. Buluke and the aliens used their super-glue freezing guns to freeze them and called their biggest spaceship to come to send all of them to a jail. They also dug a little hole to explore the gold that Baddy mentioned. Surprisingly, it turned out was an underground forest, not gold! They dug out the forest and put it in the city for their animals to live. Finally, both the citizens of City Choka and Planet Laka moved into this new City of Ali-Hu- Peace and lived there happily together. Walking in the Gobi Desert Peak School, Rosie Phillips, Fiction: Group 1

long, long time ago there was a desert. The desert was cold at night and in the day it was really hot. There was once a family who went to explore the Gobi desert. It was rather a large family. There were four brothers, four sisters, one mum, one dad, two grannies and two grand-dads. The family soon found out that there were not many treesA in the desert, but there was lots of sand. They set up a tent and lit a fire with a rock and a tree. They rubbed the rock against the tree to make fire. They were about to go searching for food when they heard something rustling in the cactus bush. The sisters shouted out “What is that rustling in the cactus!?” Out came a friendly lizard. The dad started to lick his lips, then he told the others that they could roast him on the fire. But the lizard heard them talking and shouted ‘Wait! Don’t eat me. I can help you find food.” They were amazed that a lizard could speak and so they decided not to eat him. The lizard followed them back to the campsite. The family was getting extremely hungry and asked him when he could take them to find food. The lizard said, “Why don’t I go and get the food?” “No, no, no, we will come with you.” replied the family. “No, that’s ok, I can go on my own, I wouldn’t want you to get killed.” So off he went to find food before they could stop him. He ran and ran and soon they could not see him anymore. The family waited and waited and waited. Days passed and the sun grew hotter but the lizard did not return. The family thought they would die in the desert as they could not find food. They kept on walking and soon they found a city and they built a house there. They had a really big dinner of roasted lizard. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Po Leung Kuk Camoes Tan Siu Lin Primary School, Lai Cheuk Lam, Fiction: Group 1

ne day, the Owens went to the Gobi Desert by Mum’s invented Flying Machine. “I am so hungry!” The youngest boy in the Owens, Tom told everyone. ”Let’s have a picnic on the Flying Machine,” Mum was rolling her eyes and said gently. “Mum, do you forget the rules? No eating on the Flying Machine,” Dad said. O”Tom, do not stand on the Flying Machine!” Tom’s elder sister, Judy, shouted. Tom jumped out of the Flying Machine and ran away. Suddenly, he found some plants look delicious. So he ate some plants but he spilt it out on the sand. “I hate it very much!” He shouted. “It is winterfat, Tom,” said Mum. “There is a big cat!” Judy screamed. “What big cat?” Tom asked. “SNOW LEOPARD!” Judy shouted. Tom ran as fast as he could, the snow leopard watched Tom. “Dad, please help me?” Tom said in freezing voice. “Ok, I mean no,” Dad shouted. “Judy, fetch my ball!” Tom screamed and Judy fetched the ball, but the leopard fetched it to Tom. “What a kind leopard!” Tom said. He took the leopard up in his arms and said “I love the Gobi Desert!” The snow leopard roared anxiously. “Put that snow leopard down! “Judy shouted. Tom put the snow leopard down. “Can I have that cute leopard?” Tom asked. “Yes,” answered Mum. “Let‘s go back to the ger,” Dad, Judy and Tom said. They went back to their ger. Tom put the snow leopard on his bed and Tom thought “This is a super good day!” A day after, Judy walked outside the ger and saw a golden eagle chick was finding food on the ground. Judy picked the chick and ran to ask Dad. “Can I have this golden eagle?” “Ok,” said Dad. Tom thought, “I hate Judy‘s golden eagle.” “I am going to destroy Judy’s golden eagle!” Tom rubbed his bony hand and shouted. “Oh my god,” Mum whispered. “That is a problem. How could Tom say that?” “ROAR! ROAR!” Tom’s snow leopard roared. Judy’s golden eagle flapped its wings. “Stop it, my cute leopard.” Tom said “Thank you, Tom you are my hero.” Judy said quickly. Tom thought “Heroes always do that, princess can’t do anything.” Dad saw a Gobi Bear chasing some black–tailed gazelles outside the ger. The Gobi bear caught one of them and had a big meal. Dad took a picture of it and he showed the picture to Tom and Judy. “What is that monster?” Tom asked. “It is a Gobi bear, it is endangered.” Dad answered. “Is it a male?” Mum asked. “You are correct, it is a male.” Dad answered. “How do you know that?” Judy and Mum asked. “See whether it is fat or thin. The fat one is male, the thin one is female.” Dad answered. They had a nice trip and loads of fun in the Gobi Desert! New Tale of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Lau Wing Lum, Jackie, Fiction: Group 1

n a sunny day of a summer holiday, Leo, Marco, Dickie and I went to the beach together. We tried to build sandcastles with sand, stone and seashells. When I tried to collect stones on the beach, I found a very special one. It was pink in color. I tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy. I ran to my friends and asked for help. When all my friends came Oand touched the stone, it glowed brightly. Suddenly, it brought all of us to a desert. There was a lot of sand in the desert. Dickie asked, “Where are we?” Leo answered, “I don’t know”. All of us had no idea where we are. I saw a man coming close to us. I asked him, “Excuse me, where are we?” The man answered, “You are in the Gobi Desert.” We all shouted, “What? The Gobi Desert!!!” Suddenly, Marco pointed to a sand dune and shouted, “Great! We can play with the sand,” and Dickie said, “Yeah, we can build many sandcastles here.” Leo pointed to some snow on the sand and said, “Why there is some snow? And we are not feeling hot here?” The man said, “Yes, the Gobi Desert is cold and it has snow here.” Dickie shouted, “Great, we can also make some snowman then!” I said, “I am cold and hungry. Can we find something to eat first.” The man said, “You can have a barbecue at my home.” The man told us his name was Jimmy. We followed Jimmy to his home. Jimmy started up the barbecue with firewood. We felt warm when we sat around the fire. We enjoyed the yummy food and played some games during dinner. After the dinner, we went to sleep without taking a shower. Jimmy told us, “We do not have much water here, so we don’t take a shower every day.” On the next morning, Jimmy brought us to play with the sand and snow. We built many sandcastles and created some snowmen. We played happily. Suddenly, Dickie pointed to Leo’s back and said, “You smell bad.” Leo said, “You too!” All of us smell bad, as we had played for a whole day with sweat all over our bodies. Dickie said, “I want to take a shower. I haven’t washed my body since yesterday. I want to go home.” All of us said together, “Me too!” We went to find Jimmy and told him we wanted to go home. Jimmy said, “You need to find the pink stone, put your hands on it and shout, ‘We want to go home!’ Then, it will bring you home.” Finally, we found the pink stone from the sand. We all put our hands on it and shouted, “We want to go home!” and it brought us home. When I saw my parents, I was so happy and I shared the exciting journey with them. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Leung Yuk Wah, Fiction: Group 1

ast Saturday, I went to Wetland Park with my sister, Charlotte, and my friends. We played and ran at the big field. Suddenly, all of us fell into a big hole and we entered a different world. We felt scared but it was very beautiful. We were in a desert called the Gobi Desert. LThere was a moon-shaped pond and a large, tall magic tower. The tower was wonderful and miraculous. The water in the pond was clean and clear. We went to the tower. It was dark inside. We went upstairs to a big room. It had a ghost in it. We ran downstairs. It was my friend Peter pretending to be a ghost! After that, we saw a picture of a cute dog called Duffy and a tiny girl called Nini. They came out of the picture. We screamed and shouted and did not know what to do. Nini said softly, “It is dangerous in here. In the afternoon, this tower will shake and smoke. All the villagers go back home in the evening because a large monster will come out and eat them.” “Oh! If we do not have a place to hide, the monster will eat us. We need to make a house to hide in,” said Charlotte. “How can we make a house? It is very hard,” I said. We walked for long time and arrived at a village. I bought some wood and Peter asked the villagers to help us. We put two fans in the house but it was still too hot because we were in a desert. Peter said, “We need to stay here for a night so the monster cannot eat us.” When we were sleeping, I could hear a strange sound. We walked in the corridor. All of a sudden, a tiny monster was on the floor. We screamed loudly like crazy. All of us ran back and hid under the quilt. The monster followed us. It touched our quilt. All of us were shivering. We shouted, “Monster, monster, go away!” “I’m not a monster, I’m Nini,” Nini said with a smile. “I know that you don’t have food so I took some food for you.” In the morning, I said “It’s time to go back to our real home.” “How can we go back to Wetland Park?” I asked Nini. “Walk one hundred meters, turn left then walk two hundred meters, turn right, then walk eight hundred meters,” said Nini. “You will get to a cave. You can jump into it. You’ll be home in no time.” We followed the instructions and walked a long way to get to the cave. We looked down into the dark, deep and big cave. Charlotte was very afraid. She said she would never jump in it. I did not waste time. Before Charlotte could say anything, I pushed her into the cave, then I jumped right into it. Peter followed us. The cave was very deep. We flew in the air and found some sweets and peanuts on the sides of the cave. Finally, we went back to the Wetland Park, a good place, our home, Hong Kong. The Lost Spaceship Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School, Dulcie Abuyan, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, a blue spaceship crashed in the middle of the Gobi Desert. It was huge. The hatch opened and a spaceman walked out. He was fine: he only got cut on his knee. He was a lonely traveler. When he was on the spaceship, he watched a movie about camels. He knew that he had to find a camel to survive in the desert. He looked for one Oand found it near a lake. It was the deepest lake the space man had ever seen, and he drank as much as he could. Then he got on the camel and rode on to see what he could find in the desert. The sight of the dunes was wonderful. The spaceman was having fun, until he ran into the wolves! He quickly looked for something sharp in his bag on the camel to kill the wolf. He found a knife just in time. He ran it right into the wolf and killed it! He got back on his camel and rode on. The next day, he arrived at the edge of the Gobi. Then he went on and he saw that the desert was surrounded by mountains. That night, he set a camp and stayed there for the night. He said to himself, “Tomorrow I’ll go back to the other end and try to find the pieces of my spaceship.” In the morning, he went on just like his word. He tried to find some trees for wood to fix his spaceship too, but he could not find any. Instead, he walked into a village of white gers and met lots of people. “I don’t need my spaceship anymore, let it stay in the sand!” the spaceman thought. Because the spaceman was not lonely anymore. The Poacher and I Shanghai Singapore International School, Chew Yen Teng Lorraine, Fiction: Group 1

am Rudolph the snow leopard. I sleep, hunt and roam alone. I grew up in the Gobi desert amongst juicy cactuses, lizards, black tailed gazelles, camels, wolves, Mongolian wild asses and big brown bears. I have 1.3 million square kilometers to play in happily and roam freely. I like to play Iamong the Gobi flora which includes the saltwort, saxual tree, wild onions, desert shrubbery and grass. My favourite place to play is Guga Mountain where I was born. Guga Mountain is a land of extremes. In winter, when the temperature reaches minus 40 degrees Celsius, the snowcapped mountain beckons me to descend its slopes. When it is too cold, I quake and quiver. In summer, the temperature reaches 50 degrees Celsius. It is so hot and often I do not have enough water to drink. Guga Mountain is 2555 metres high. I am never hungry for the Guga Mountain has a lot of prey for me to catch and eat. Humans also appear to hunt for animals. Humans are my worst enemies. Only when my Aunt and Uncle got killed for their skins, I then realised that humans are dangerous. One day, when the sun was scorching down on me and the sky was very clear, I saw a poacher. The poacher wore a wicked grin and was very tanned. He seemed very tall and huge. When I saw the poacher, I fled. The next day, I saw the poacher again. When I turned to flee, it was too late, for I felt acute pain that was intolerable and I collapsed to the ground and fell into a deep slumber. When I awoke, I found myself in a wooden cage. I realised that I was caught. I was petrified as I knew that I was going to be killed for my skin like my Uncle and Aunt. I thought about the land that I knew so well and my family whom I may never see again. I had to think of how I could be free again. After pacing up and down for a long time, I decided to gnaw on the wood of the cage. After gnawing on the wood for a long time, I finally made a hole and escaped into the dark and chilly night. I was relieved that I escaped. In the howling wind, as I turned to flee, I picked up the scent of the poacher, pounced on him and ate him ravenously. He tasted different but delicious. I had a good meal. I learnt that humans are dangerous and I should keep away from them.

The Golden Eagles Shenzhen Yingcai Xingdi Education Training Center, Tiger, Fiction: Group 1

hys spent a lot of time in the mountains trying to catch rabbits. His two children were waiting him to them feed them, but the humans in the desert were over hunting and cutting down too many trees, which greatly reduced the amount of animals and food to eat. RThe Gobi Desert’s weather is hot but at night it is cold, it didn’t matter for Rhys. He could catch rabbits, foxes, wolves, snakes and many other animals. If he was lucky, he might catch a small Gobi Bear too. When the sandstorms came, he could fly to the mountains. However, there was only a little bit of water in the Gobi Desert, so they needed to find it. One day, Rhys’ wife Esther laid two eggs. The eggs hatched and an eagle got out. Rhys was very happy. He gave them names. The boy’s name was Zoda and the girl’s name was Mukana. They needed a lot of food every day. Rhys spent a lot of time hunting and bringing food for his children. The Golden Eagle’s wings are about two meters long and they can carry almost 1 KG food. Rhys made a nice, big home from branches, leaves and feathers so they were happy to grow up. Unfortunately a bad thing happened. When Rhys and Esther had gone out to hunt, a man found his house. He took Zoda and put him into a cage. Esther didn’t look strong, so he didn’t want her. The man took the cage far far away. The man always gave Zoda food and trained him how to catch animals and protect sheep. He was young but he was growing each day. Later, the man sold Zoda. A hunter bought the golden eagle and carried him to a village. The hunter was nice to Zoda. He became an adult and became a strong golden eagle. He protected the sheep and was a wise master. His claws could catch broken animal skulls like his father could. One day, the hunter rode his horse and took the eagle to hunt. He was looking for animals when suddenly, two Golden Eagles flew across the sky. They were trying to kill the horse and the hunter. Zoda spread his wings and flew up into the sky immediately, preparing to fight with the two Golden Eagles. It didn’t take long before they all recognized each other. It was their long lost son. They were so surprised. Zoda and Esther wanted to attack the hunter, Rhys dived to the hunter and scratched him with his claws. Zoda stopped his father. The hunter was injured and fell from his horse. The horse returned to the village to call someone to help his master. Zoda guarded at his side until the horse come back. The people in the village saw that the horse came back alone. They didn’t know what happened to the hunter. So the people followed the horse to find the hunter. Zoda saw that they were coming. He flew above the hunter’s head making three circles and then flew away with his parents. They flew home in the direction of their daughter waiting for them! Jelly and the Desert Hunters St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Kwok Hiu Tsun, Fiction: Group 1

he Gobi Desert is a “mystery” for most people. I reckon you haven’t been to this big, cold desert in China and Mongolia, have you? My name is Jelly the Jerboa. Although I am one of the smallest animals in the desert, I am an excellent hopper and a quick runner. And I have a few good friends living around me. TOne day in January, a group of Russian hunters arrived. They put up a yurt on the sand to store their supplies. “People like to keep extraordinary pets nowadays so we must catch four jerboas for a pet shop,” said one of them. “I hope we can finish in a week. We don’t have too much water and food with us or our luggage would be too heavy...” It seemed they did not do any research before coming. They had no idea that jerboas have outstanding hearing and I heard every word clearly. I was so frightened! I knew I must run back home to warn my relatives and friends immediately. We could not become their prey! I held an urgent meeting at home. “We must fight together!” shouted the Snow Leopard. “We needed to tell the humans that they should respect every animal on earth! Many of our friends are in danger of extinction already.” “They are not familiar with the Gobi Desert and its climate. It is our advantage.” All of us got ready to take action at any time. The hunters did actually know we are nocturnal. My little brother forgot our warning and went out by himself that night. “A jerboa!” shouted an overjoyed hunter. With their night vision glasses, the hunters caught him with a net easily and put him in a plastic bag. Just then, all of my friends ran out together. The Snow Leopard roared loudly and the Ibex used his huge curved horn to punch the hunters. Even our typical enemy, the Golden Eagle, also came to rescue my brother! She understood all animals must stand together against the people. We were not going to hurt them but just wanted them to leave us and the Gobi Desert in peace. Suddenly, a strong wind changed the land’s shape. The hunters felt terrified. They were lost in this enormous sandy land. They had no idea where their yurt was located. After discussing for a while, the camel family was willing to guide them back to the yurt. The hunters realised that we were friendly. They felt sorry for what they did to us. They decided to set my brother free. Not all human beings were horrible and wicked after all! “We will stop the pet shop owners from selling endangered species when we are home,” said a hunter, “and pass on the message that we should live with the animals in harmony.” Although I knew a human being would never understand what I said, I hopped up to his shoulder and whispered “thank you” softly beside his ear. Where is our new home? St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Lam Hei Yin Cheryl, Fiction: Group 1

elta! Delta! I’m EXTINCT 7788. We’ve successfully landed on the S.System 003 Planet,” “ EXTINCT 7788 called. “The exact location is a waterless place, the Gobi Desert, 42.59 N 103.43 E,” EXTINCT 5354 added. D“Good luck for your mission,” Delta replied. In the early afternoon, the two thin tall creatures came out from their spaceship. The two creatures did not have eyes, ears, noses, mouths or hair. They looked glossy from the top to the bottom like shiny metals. The creatures walked across several sand dunes to collect samples. They collected various cells of different animals and plants such as a snow leopard and a saxaul tree in the desert. Then, they planned to collect cells of human beings. Before they approached the nomadic family, the creatures duplicated the faces and the bodies of the human beings to transform. EXTINCT 7788 turned into a tourist called Uudam and EXTINCT 5354 turned into a camel called Urshikale. As soon as they arrived at the nearest yurt, the sky suddenly turned dark. The wind was moving strongly. It was a sandstorm! Frightened yelling and terrified screaming from the nomadic family spread everywhere. Everyone was urged to take shelter in the nearest yurt. Uudam raised up his hand toward the storm and moved his hand in a circle direction. Finally, the fierce wind gradually calmed down. After the sandstorm, the nomadic family came out from their yurts. Meanwhile, they saw Uudam and Urshikale. The nomadic family welcomed them. That night, Uudam chatted with the nomadic family in Mongolian and Putonghua. Uudam said he got lost in the desert during his travels. So the nomadic family taught Uudam how to get to the nearest attraction for help. During the conversation, the nomadic family also mentioned that they were going to move on the next day to a new home due to desertification. Uudam had no idea about desertification. An elder of the family sighed, “I’ve heard that desertification is caused by droughts, climate change and overgrazing. Nowadays, more than one quarter of our country is either covered by desert or is land that is suffering desertification. Without soil, we and our livestock are not able to survive anymore.” Another family member added, “The is creating a “Great Green Wall” to prevent desertification. It may control the problem …” The next morning, Uudam said farewell to the nomadic family and returned to the spaceship with Urshikale. From the sky, they saw the trace of the nomadic family whom they met the previous night in the desert. EXTINCT 7788 held hands with EXTINCT 5354 and transmitted his message, “Delta! Delta! We’ve finished the investigation at the S.System 003 Planet. Unfortunately, the planet should not be a choice for our new home because it is close to dying. Now we’re heading to the next destination to find our new home” EXTINCT 5354 added, “However, the planet could be saved if the human beings stop destroying it by protecting the ecological order and controlling pollution …” The Moonstone St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Li Ramona Yan Hei, Fiction: Group 1

livia was panting as she raced to the top of the sand dune. “Hurry up!” she yelled from above Jack, “You’ve got to see this!” There were some tents with colourful flags, right in the middle of the Gobi Desert. Suddenly, Olivia felt like she had stepped on some soft mud and her right leg was Osinking. Jack shouted, “It’s quick sand! I’m going to pull you out!” But Jack was too weak. Luckily, two men ran to them to help. The men asked them why they were here. “We’re here to find the moonstone,” said Jack. “My mum is very sick, we must use its healing power to cure her.” “We are John and Gary, we know where the moonstone is, but there are two brown bears and a golden eagle guarding it,” said one of the men. “However we can show you the way if you want.” They started walking. They saw a beautiful lake and used a boat to row to the other side. Up the mountain in front of them was a cave. “We’d better go with you. You two are too young to go alone,” Gary said. When they were near the cave, they found an ice wall with a window. They saw a small stone glowing on a big rock. That was the moonstone! “The bears must be out hunting, hurry up! We need to leave before they come back!” John said. “But how can we get in?” Jack whispered. Olivia noticed a hole on the upper part of the wall; it must be for the eagle to come in and out. The men helped Olivia and Jack to climb in as they were small enough to fit in the hole. Some animals heard them and came towards them. Jack picked up some rocks on the floor and tried to hit them. Olivia ran and picked up the moonstone. She found a bigger hole on the other side of the wall. “Jack, hurry to the right, there is a way out!” Very quickly they came out. Then they were surprised that in front of them was another bear, the guard! “Help!” Olivia screamed. John took out a small pot of honey from his pocket and opened it. They always carried it because this special type of honey could help small cuts or bug bites. John threw the pot to the bear. “Let’s go, quick!” Gary said. They started running down the mountain. The bear smelled the honey and started to eat and ignored them. They all safely came down the mountain and John helped them to get a camel to ride back home. “Thanks for your help!” Olivia and Jack said gratefully. “We cannot get the moonstone without your help!” On a full moon’s night, they took out the moonstone. When the moonlight shone on the moonstone, the beautiful light glowed all over their mother. “My lovely children, thank you for saving me! I love you!” Their mother held them tightly and cried. The Wonder Girl of the Gobi St. Paul’s Co-educational College Primary School, Isabel Cheung, Fiction: Group 1

uring the Yuan Dynasty, the Gobi Desert was a vast, arid land full of wavy golden sand dunes. The caramel coloured hills and valleys stretched for miles and miles. Along the edge of the desert, near the foot of the Tian Shan Mountains, were scattered bands of Mongolian goat herders. They lived a rough, tough life of looking for patches of grass to Dfeed their goats. When food was scarce, they raided caravans returning from Arabia, filled with exotic spices, cotton and silver. Impish Izzie was a spunky, gifted goat girl. She named all of her goats and could recognize each of them by the sound of their baa. With her sharp ears, enchanting whistle and turbo legs, she lassoed all of them in before sunset every day. There wasn’t a boy who could out-herd Izzie. She was too clever and nimble to lose any of her goats. Impish Izzie was the wonder girl of the Gobi. One day, Impish Izzie became fed up of catching goats. While digging her left foot into the sand, she heard a squeak. She froze in her tracks. She kicked up some sand with her other foot and heard a faint bark. “How funny,” she thought. Squeak, squeak. She shuffled her feet a few more times. Bark, squawk. “How fun!” she giggled. She twisted her hips into a boogie woogie. Skipping along the ridge, her feet produced a new song. Pip, squeak. Bark, boom. She leapt off the ridge, whooping for joy. “Owww!” she yelped. Her buns were scorched. And stuck. Izzie scooted down the dune by the seat of her pants, a few inches at a time. Grrr … Grrrrrrr … Rrrrrroaaar. With each scoot, she heard a sound like the growl of a hungry bear. Meanwhile, she felt the warm tickle of tiny grains of sand brushing over her face. Little gusts of wind began to sweep up the sands, and the sands danced in circles around her. Before she knew it, she had been whirled into a tremendous twister, propelling Impish Izzie hundreds of feet into the sky. Higher and higher she rose. Whooping and hollering, she was spinning across the Gobi desert, like an untamed horse. What a ride she had! She was having the time of her life. Then, the sand storm suddenly died. Impish Izzie plummeted from the sky. She tried to balance herself by splitting her arms and legs wide apart. She landed with a walloping THUMP. When she landed, her legs carved a V-shaped trough in the ground. Nowadays, people call this The Valley Of the Wonder Girl. Of course, Impish Izzie was not hurt at all. She bounced up from her tumble and skipped back to the Tian Shan Mountains to tell her tale. Riding this sand storm was a blast, but Impish Izzie knew that a storm could never replace her beloved goats. To this day, she is known as the Wonder Girl of the Gobi. A Gobi Love Tale St. Paul’s Co-educational College Primary School, Charlotte Wei Yu Leung, Fiction: Group 1

he Gobi is a large, large desert where the yellow sand stretch for miles and miles. A long, long time ago, dinosaurs lived in the Gobi desert. One day, in this quiet and empty land, Robert the dinosaur was standing on top of a red cliff. He was lonely and sad. “Oh,” he sighed, “I wish I have a friend to play with.” TSuddenly, Robert saw something moving on the far side. It was another dinosaur. Robert became very excited. “This can be a friend!” he thought to himself. He gave a big roar. The sound went far and reached the ears of the other dinosaur. A girl dinosaur. She looked up and saw Robert on top of the cliff. He looked so strong and majestic standing there. She raced over happily. Robert looked at her and she looked at him. He heaved his chest. She lowered her head and fluttered her lashes. It was love at first sight. Robert named her Rosa. “Let’s stay together and raise a family,” Robert proposed. So they settled down beside the red cliff. Holding claws, they watched the beautiful sunset as it turned the sand golden. Their tails entwined, the counted the millions of stars that shot across the sky. And in the moonlight, they danced and rolled in the soft sand. They were happy and they were in love, in their home beside the cliff as red as flame. Then when Rosa laid a nest of eggs, Robert was the happiest dinosaur in the whole of Gobi. One night, danger came. A most powerful wind came by. The sand flew up until it was a thick black wall. Rosa was hatching her eggs and she saw the wall of sand. It was coming towards them. She cried out in fear. Robert ran over, said, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you. I’ll protect your eggs.” Rosa was still very scared, but she knew she had to be brave like Robert. She hugged her eggs. Robert put his body over hers. Other dinosaurs rushed past them, trying to get away from the wall of sand. But Robert and Rosa were not going to run, they were not going to hide. They were going to stay and guard their eggs. The wind howled and wailed. The wall of sand came closer and closer. As the sand passed, it covered everything in its path – the dinosaurs, the nest, the eggs and all. The desert became quiet again. But it did not mourn. It knew that millions of years later, some people would come to the Gobi. They would find the bones of Robert and Rosa, resting over their nest of fossil eggs. Then the whole world would know the story of these two dinosaurs from the desert of Gobi. In The Desert The International School of Macao, Frank Ieng Hou Leong-Murphy, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, nine snails, a Rhyming Rabbit, a Bristleworm, an anemone, a snake, an owl, a fox, a Gruffalo and his Daughter went on an airplane called “the Rhyming Airplane”, where you could only say rhyming words. They left from Macau airport to go into the Gobi desert. It was freezing cold when they arrived! OThey got off the airplane and saw a couple of cars waiting, one of which was a taxi. They all wanted to ride in the same taxi, but there was no room. Luckily, more taxis arrived. They drove all the way to the mountains where it was even colder! The Bristleworm said to the others, “Quick! Put your hats, scarves and mittens on!” So they all did. They were now very warm indeed. Then they stretched their legs on the mountain while the taxis waited for them. A couple of hours later, the Gruffalo’s daughter said, “Time for lunch, everybody!” So they climbed back into their taxis and went down the mountain and into a cafe because they were worried that the fox was hungry and would eat the Rhyming Rabbit. This is what they ate: The Snails: some lettuce The Rhyming Rabbit: a few carrots The Bristleworm: leaves The Anemone: seaweed The Snake: some insects The Owl: a couple of rats The Fox: a chicken The Gruffalo: a piece of broccoli The Gruffalo’s Daughter: frozen yogurt When they finished their big meal, they were all stuffed and had a run around until the Gruffalo’s child was so tired, she couldn’t take another step. Luckily, the Gruffalo had some frozen yogurt which she ate before they climbed back into the taxis. Then they went to a performance of Julia Donaldson’s books, where they all took turns going up on the stage. At the end, they went to another part of the Gobi desert where they saw loads of animals, like camels and lizards, insects and even humans. They were shocked! They had never seen anything like it in their lives! They all nearly fell over. The Rhyming Rabbit actually fainted! The fox was still wide-awake; so it crept closer and, very slowly, nearly put its sharpest claw into the rabbit’s skin. The two animals closest to the rabbit shouted, “WATCH OUT YOU SILLY RHYMING RABBIT!” And then all the animals repeated it. The rabbit woke up immediately and ran for its life. It hid into a hole in a spiky cactus. Just as the fox turned its back on the cactus, the rabbit charged out as fast as the wind and went back in the taxis with the rest of the animals. They drove back to the airport without the hungry fox. This time they got on a different airplane called “the Gruffalo airplane” and went home where they all had a rest on the bed. If you go to the Gobi desert now, be careful of the very hungry fox!!!

Inspired by Julia Donaldson The Adventure of the Gobi Desert The True Light Middle School of Hong Kong (Primary Section), Tam Hong Ching, Fiction: Group 1

ake up! Jack, wake up! Jack Smead!” Jack yawned. He stuck out his tongue at Ellie. “ “Buzz off.” Ellie glared back. “We’re going to the Gobi Desert, right?” Jack groaned. He slid off his bed and pulled on his special explorer’s suit. Then he made sure that he had everything ready. “You get the first-aid box. I’ll get the map and compass.” commandedW Ellie. Five minutes later, the two teenage explorers were seated in their plane, The Swan. The pilot, Mick, grinned at Jack. “Ready?” “Yep.” Jack said, making a face. Within ten minutes, The Swan was zooming in and out of the white clouds. “You’re fast, Mick!” exclaimed Jack in awe. Suddenly, The Swan jerked and started to float about. Mick fiddled with the engine with an anxious look. “We are in trouble! The Swan is going to crash! I can’t do anything.” “Oh no!” said Ellie, her eyes wide. She started talking about how to survive in a plane crash in the desert. Jack thought “I can manage, don’t worry!” All of a sudden, Mick cried “Grab your parachutes!” Jack and Ellie reached for their parachutes and jumped out of the plane as quickly as they could. “Wheeeeeee! What a jump!” Jack landed beside an oak tree. “Where are you, Mick and Ellie?” “I’m here!” bellowed Mick from somewhere above. Jack looked up and saw Mick and The Swan hanging on a branch. Mick frowned. “Oh Jack! It’s broken. What can I do?” Jack scrambled onto the tree and helped Mick to climb down. “Thanks!” said Mick, brushing the dust off himself. “Oh yeah, what about Ellie?” Jack looked around. He heard a scared scream. He ran towards the sound, swinging his head as he ran. Ellie was behind a giant cactus, surrounded by five hissing cobras! “Help!” yelled Ellie. She spotted Jack running by. “Save me!” shrieked Ellie, her face white. Jack whipped out his penknife. He picked up a stick, dashing to the cobras. “Ssss- ssssss-ss!” hissed Jack, pointing the stick at them. “Sssss-sss.” answered a cobra which bit Ellie’s foot. “OWW!!!” screeched Ellie. Jack kept calm and said “Ssssss-ssss-a-saaaaaa!” The cobras stopped moving around, like being hit by a magic spell. Jack killed them with his penknife. “Phew! Mission over! Are you okay, little Ellie-phant?” Jack joked. “Stop laughing, idiot, help me with my wound! I was almost swallowed!” Ellie complained. Jack shrugged. He opened the first-aid box. He wrapped a bandage around her foot. “I won’t leave you alone, right? We are partners! Luckily, the wound is not too serious.” “Okay, thank you, buddy!” beamed Ellie. They went back to Mick and helped him fix The Swan. Jack and Ellie sat back into The Swan, and continued their adventure. The three brave youngsters crossed hundreds and hundreds of land. With their mutual help, they managed to keep up. After their long journey, they learnt lots and lots about the Gobi Desert! But most of all, they found out that cooperation makes the best. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Tsuen Wan Catholic Primary School, Rason Kwan, Fiction: Group 1

ne day in 2012, five people went to Gobi Desert to find some money, although the weather was sunny and around 40 degrees. The rode on the cargo plane to get there. First, they went to a cavern and found some money and a piece of paper telling them to, go left 200 meters. Suddenly, a lot of strangers caught them and brought them back Oto their home. These travelers were eaten by these strangers. No one wants to ever go to the Gobi Desert again. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Tsuen Wan Catholic Primary School, Daniel Lam, Fiction: Group 1

ne day in 1095, two people went to the Gobi Desert. They wanted to get the treasure located in Gobi Desert. They walked a long way, and could not find any treasures. That day was sunny. That day was 150 degrees Celsius. Suddenly, they found a big castle. They found Harry Potter inside the castle. The castle turns out to be a big school. OInside, the two people saw Harry Potter in a fight with Voldemort. They were giving each other their own magic spell. The two people who wanted to get treasure were afraid. They called their primary school teachers Mr. Lai and Mr. Sidney. Mr. Sidney told them to right, but Mr. Lai told them to help Harry Potter. Before the two treasure hunters could do anything, Harry Potter managed to defeat Voldemort. After Harry Potter killed Voldermort, he shouted, “ I have already killed Voldemort. Voldemort is bad. I killed him so I am now a hero!” Voldermort has another friend. His friend was not happy that Voldermort died so he shot Harry Potter with his gun as well as the treasure hunters. So, what did we learn? We should learn that we should not love money because money always make people do bad things to other people. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Tsuen Wan Catholic Primary School, Chloe Wong, Fiction: Group 1

n the year 3000, the weather is turning strange. It is snowy, but the temperature is 1,000,000 degrees Celsius. Ron Weasley was kidnapped by Voldemort in the Gobi Desert. Harry Potter, Tom Riddle, Dumbledore, Doby and Meine Granger are out to rescue him. They set off to the Gobi Desert. In the morning, the weather is as cold as an ice cube and Ihot like the sun at night. They get sick easily. On their way, they met a very large spider and a bat. They fought with them. Dumbledore got killed in the battle because the bat bit him and the bite was poisonous. Eventually, Harry Potter and his team won the fight. They walked as slow as a snail to search for Ron Weasley. The next day, they ran into a lot of scary snakes. Their eyes were red. They use their wand to kill the snakes. However, more and more snakes were coming out of nowhere. Harry Potter and his gang were scared except for Mione Granger. She managed to remain calm. She used a spell to kill all the snakes. They won again. Suddenly, a snake woke up and bit Mione Granger and she died. Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Doby were very upset. They carried on with their search until they arrived at a volcano. They met Voldemore and his team of wicked. Harry Potter and his team fought with Voldemort with their wand, but Voldermort’s magic is too strong for them. Najini got bitten by the snakes and died. Tom Riddle and Harry Potter were able to defend themselves in the battle and were able to defeat Voldemort with their magic wands. Finally, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle found Ron Weasley and brought him home. They used the rebirth stone to save Mione, Dumbledore and Doby’s life and everyone lived happily ever after. The Saviour Victoria Shanghai Academy, Lauren Ing, Fiction: Group 1

ong ago, there lived a farmer called Chi. Chi had three sons and out of those three, Hu-Hang was the eldest. He was also the bravest, kindest and cleverest son. Hu-Hang’s mother had died when he was five. Chi loved his sons immensely but he was troubled by one major problem. It was that living close to the Gobi Desert meant that he had to watch Lit expand further into his grazing land each year. “Oh my son, how am I ever going to provide for this family if goats keep dying because they get less to eat every year?” said Chi worriedly to Hu-Hang. Hu-Hang thought for a while and said “Father, I could visit the Gobi and look for the dinosaur eggs that Grandfather spoke about. Then we could sell them to buy new land.” Hu-Hang’s grandfather had told him about finding dinosaur eggs where the Gobi met the start of the Himalayas. Hu-Hang set off with his favourite goat, Snowy, so he would have milk to quench his thirst. After many days of walking, they were exhausted and collapsed. Without warning, a sandstorm blew up around them like a huge yellow wave. Hu-Hang and Snowy were tossed into the air. They were blown a great distance and when Hu-Hang opened his eyes he saw the dark grey peaks of the Himalayas ahead. There was a sudden flash of light and the spirit of the Gobi Desert appeared. “Can I help you?” she said gently. Hu-Hang fell back in horror. “I-I am looking for dinosaur eggs so that my father can sell them and buy new grazing land because the Gobi takes more of it every year.” stuttered Hu-Hang. The spirit replied, “Young man, you don’t have to look for dinosaur eggs. It is more important to make sure that people keep planting trees because the trees will stop the desert expanding.” As she started to fade, she stopped, smiled and held out a giant green egg to Hu-Hang. “Actually, this might help you.” she said. Hu-Hang and Snowy watched, amazed, as the egg hatched into a baby Pterodactyl! “Wow, I had no idea that the eggs would hatch. Snowy, would you mind if the baby dinosaur drank some of your milk?” asked Hu-Hang excitedly. Snowy nodded approvingly. The baby dinosaur grew and strengthened quickly with the nutritious milk and was able to fly Hu-Hang and Snowy around the Gobi to remind people to keep planting trees. The people were so frightened of the fierce looking dinosaur that they obeyed Hu-Hang’s command, and soon there was plenty of grazing land for all the Gobi farmers. Hu-Hang, Snowy and the dinosaur returned home. “Father, I’m back! This is the dinosaur that saved our land.” said Hu-Hang proudly. His father was so grateful that he told everyone about his son’s actions. News spreads like wildfire and Hu-Hang was remembered as the saviour of the farmers who lived around the Gobi Desert. Mystery of the Gobi Desert Victoria Shanghai Academy, Leanne Nguyen, Fiction: Group 1

nce upon a time, there was a girl called Bayarmay. She lived in a big colourful ger in the Gobi Desert with her father and mother. Bayarmay liked to play outside when it was a bit cool, but when it was boiling hot or too cold, she preferred to play indoors. OThey were really happy until..., one fine day, a strange thing happened. When Bayarmay was playing outside, she saw a big fierce and scary black shadow behind a sand dune. Bayarmay was so scared that she quickly ran back home and said to her parents “I just saw a HUGE shadow of a DINOSAUR!” Her parents ran outside but they could not see any dinosaur. Instead, they saw a big one foot sized dinosaur egg close to the ger. It was spotty, cracked and grey. Bayarmay’s parents were terrified so they decided to move their ger, goats and camels as far away from the egg as they could before it got dark. That night, Bayarmay tried to sleep but she was too frightened. When she finally fell asleep, she had nightmares about dinosaurs eating her so she woke up many times. Her parents kept going to have a look at her because she kept screaming. The next day, Bayarmay went outside to play. After a few minutes, she saw a big dinosaur walking with a baby dinosaur next to it. They both had longish necks and round brown bodies. Bayarmay screamed again. Her parents came out of the ger and saw the dinosaurs too. They did not know what to do. Next, they thought it was best to go back inside the ger and lock the door so that’s what they did. They then heard a really loud roar from outside. The poor family shook with fear. Bayarmay’s Dad decided to throw some food outside for the dinosaurs because he hoped that the dinosaurs would eat it and go away. Even though the dinosaurs saw the food, they didn’t like its smell so they ran away. They thought the goat meat was too smelly. The family went outside and picked up the food they had thrown away. They smelled it and decided to put the food outside the ger so that the dinosaurs will never come back. Bayarmay said “Ac…actually, dinosaurs aren’t as bad as that smelly food! Ha ha ha ha!!!” But actually it was a group of their camels that ran away because Bayarmay and her parents were a bit short sighted. So then the whole family decided to see an eye doctor and found out that they were all short sighted. The family was so thankful to the eye doctor because he was the only eye doctor in the Gobi Desert. The eye doctor was happy too and gave them their glasses. They guessed that the one foot egg was a few rocks stuck together. They all lived happily ever after with their glasses on! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Victoria Shanghai Academy, Ainsley Ternes, Fiction: Group 1

here once were two children, named Megan and Jake. They were 5 years old twins who lived in Happy Valley. They were brother and sister who loved to explore, and as a result they had a special room in their backyard which contained the power to take them to different places or back in time. TOne day the happy little Megan and Jake went to their special room and asked it to bring them to the Gobi Desert, because they have been to the Sahara desert and it was really interesting. They wanted to see if the Gobi Desert was just as interesting and they wanted to be like Rob Lilwall, who was a man who walked through the famous Gobi Desert. So the twins said the magic words “Little room, grant our wish. Take us far, far away.” and were instantly sent to the Gobi Desert. When they got to the Gobi Desert, they saw many interesting things, such as two-hump camels, desert tarantulas, golden eagles, and many more animals. They also saw some interesting plants which they had seen before in the Sahara Desert. They saw the wild onion, the goyo, and some cactus. They also saw a forest of shrubs called the sauxal. One nasty thing they discovered was that in the Gobi desert there are dangerous things like the Mongolian nettle. The Mongolian nettle will give you a long lasting sting if you touch it. After their long walk exploring the animals and plants of the desert, the children felt really thirsty but they hadn’t got their water with them so they headed for their room. As they approached their room, they saw a terrible sandstorm heading for them. The sandstorm took them far, far away. When it was over they were really far away from their room. Luckily they saw some men in front of them. The men said “Welcome! Would you like to ride on our ‘Ship of the Desert‘?” Jake said “What ship? I don’t see any ships. I only see camels, men and lots and lots of sand!” “No”, said the man “the ‘Ship of the Desert’ is the camel!” “Oh! Can we ride on them?” “Sure.” So they rode on the camels back to their room. When they got back they had some water and rested. They were tired and the sun was setting so the desert was getting very cold so they said bye and flew back home. They had lots of fun and found out lots of information. Their Gobi Desert adventure was so awesome. They were so tired that they went to bed straight away! They dreamed of having another adventure. And I am sure that they will have another cool adventure very soon. The end “My Journey to the Gobi Desert” Victoria Shanghai Academy, Jessie Wong, Fiction: Group 1

ow, what is that? They are dashing as fast as lightning!” I muttered. Can they be, “ really be the black tailed gazelles?” I was stunned and started to run after them. A few seconds later they were out of sight and all they left behind was a mass of dust in the air. WI continued to search for fossils of dinosaur eggs. It was getting hotter and hotter, as the sun was beaming down on me. I was beginning to steam up and felt warm droplets running down my cheeks and into my eyes. I gently brushed them out of my eyes. Just then I caught a glimpse of something very peculiar in the distance, so I decided to take a closer look. I crept forward cautiously, making sure not to disturb it. As I was approaching closer I saw huge mountains. The mountains started to move slowly, and I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. They were humps, not mountains! They looked like brown carpet over hills. I reached out my hand to the carpet and managed to touch it. It was fuzzy and furry and it felt really warm. As I was stroking it, I felt something staring at me. I looked up and I saw two big balls with long, long bristles and two dark, black holes in my face. I started to panic and stepped back quickly. I examined carefully and realized that it was a Bactrian camel, because it had two humps. I was surprised to see one because they are endangered. While I was admiring it, an awful stench whiffed passed me. I decided to follow the odor to find out if the stench really came from the marbled polecats. As I was advancing forward, the stench was getting stronger and stronger, so I knew I was on the right track. Not long after, I caught sight of a huge, rocky cave. I wanted to check it out; I turned on my flash-light and walked quietly into the cave. It was cool and dark inside, but I could still smell that awful stench. Then I heard a rustling sound, so I moved to the directions. In front of me, there was a family of marbled polecats. They looked frightened showing teeth as they were protecting one that was hurt. I approached them, but they became a bit more frightened. So I left them alone and went out of the cave. I continued with my search for fossils of dinosaur eggs, but no luck. The sun started to set and it was getting cold. So I quickly made my way back to my tent, but I couldn’t find my way – I was lost! I was looking around for things that I could recognize to help me find my way. As I gazed into the dessert, I felt colder and colder and began to shiver. Finally, I spotted the humps again in the distance, so I decided to head towards the direction. After a long tiring walk and search, I found my tent! I grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around me. Not long after I fell asleep under the warmth. In Our hands Ying Wa Primary School, Chan Sze Hang Ethan, Fiction: Group 1

ur fate is not in our hands, my dear! It has been six months and we found no trace of “ dinosaur fossil. We are running out of funding and this could be our last chance. Make sure you stay away from the vipers and the bears, okay?” Mom said. “Don’t worry! See you soon!” Bataar and his dad nodded with determination. OBataar and his dad were riding the camels. A gust of wind blew across the sand dunes. It was late in the afternoon but the sky suddenly became as dark as night. The sand came faster than they expected. The sunlight was blocked and sand whipped them hard on their faces. They could barely open their eyes and he heard muffled shouts of his dad but the wind was howling until he lost his direction in the chaos and Bataar fell down from the back of the camel. When he woke up, it was already night. He shivered and rushed to a cave nearby as shelter. Suddenly, he heard a rumbling roar. A bulky figure was getting closer and closer. In the dark, Bataar saw a pair of cruel big eyes, an open enormous mouth with sharp teeth, and a furry brown body edging near the cave. A bear was returning to its den! He immediately dashed out of the cave. He heard the bear roaring fiercely behind him. He ran fast but the roar got even louder. He trampled over cacti and scratched his clothes, jumping like a cat on hot bricks. Ouch! Bataar came up with an idea and picked up some stones to fill up his pocket. He then saw a big rock in front of him and quickly climbed up it. The bear followed but every time it tried to climb up, Bataar hit it with stones and it fell to the ground. They kept toiling until Bataar threw out a heavy stone and gave a big strike on its head. The bear finally left. Bataar was panting with relief though he was hungry and thirsty. He kept flashing his torch hoping that someone could notice. Suddenly, an approaching spotlight appeared in the dark sky. It was a helicopter! His parents along with the rescue team found him shivering on the top of a rock at a tree oasis. When they were traveling back, there was an enchanting scene like a sea of gold when the bright sun ray shed over the sand dunes at dawn. The breeze was gentle and the sunshine was warm. “Maybe we have to end this exploration as there are no fossils in this desert!” Bataar sighed and took out the last piece of stone from his pocket. “What is it? A stone in weird shape?” Wait! It was a dinosaur bone fossil! Bataar was overwhelmed with joy. Although he had been through a really scary night in Gobi, he was longing for his next dinosaur fossil hunt because he knew that his fate was in his hands! Fiction Group 2 Adventures of the Gobi Desert AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Cheung Cheuk Ying, Fiction: Group 2

rrrr...The school bell rang and lots of pupils said “Hurray!” And Candy and I were really excited about tomorrow’s trip to Japan even though we didn’t know that the coming trip would turn into a disaster. The next morning, we met in the airport and then we flew to Japan. We played Bhappily in Japan and took a lot of photos. We enjoyed looking at the photos on the plane. But when we were travelling back to Hong Kong, the plane suddenly shook severely. The captain told us to fasten the seat belt. Then the plane landed urgently. We woke up and found that we were lying on the sands. I checked the map and I discovered we were at the Gobi Desert. From my General Studies lessons, I knew there were dinosaur eggs in the desert so that I told Candy we might find dinosaur eggs. Candy thought we should try to find out dinosaur eggs too. Then we set off our journey of treasure hunt. We searched for dinosaur eggs for 5 days but we didn’t have food. So we searched for food first. We walked for a long time. Suddenly, we saw a man. He was also a passenger in the aircraft. He had some food so he shared it with us and kept some for the next few days. He joined us for searching the eggs too. We temporarily solved the problems of food but Candy was bitten by a scorpion and she got poisoned by it. Fortunately, I had a little water and cloth so I used them to clean and cover the wound, to make sure it would not get worse. But unfortunately I didn’t get used to the environment so I became sick. We didn’t have any medicine so we walked around to get help from people. Fortunately, we saw an archaeologist, who had bought some medicine. After taking the medicine, I became better. The archaeologist also knew how to repair planes so he repaired the aircraft with his tools. For the next few days, we just follow the archaeologist to find the dinosaur eggs. After ten days, we could finally find an dinosaur egg and then we travelled back to Hong Kong by the aircraft. After going back to Hong Kong, we were interviewed by a newspaper about our journey. We felt so surprised about that and we just want to thank the archaeologist for the medicine. At the end, we all got famous with lots of interviews and reports on newspaper. New Tales of the Gobi Desert AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Ip Hei Nam, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, two people wanted to get the treasure from the Gobi Desert. They called Biff and Belly. But they didn’t know how to get it. One day, they saw a camel in the forest. But camels should live in desert instead of forest. So that they followed the camel. On the way, the camel disappeared. They thought it was amazing. Then they saw the Ocamel again and followed it. Suddenly, they saw a hole on the ground. Then, there was strong wind pulling them into the hole. After that, they were ‘sent’ to the Gobi Desert! When they came to Gobi Desert, they were very excited. Biff and Belly immediately found the treasure. The weather was very bad. It was rainy and cold. It was also dark at the night time. They ran to the middle of the desert. There was a lion statue being made of stone on the ground. It was amazingly huge. Biff and Belly were scared of it. It was the tutelary god of this desert. Then Biff talked to the statue, “We want to get the treasure here.” The statue said, “If you two want to get the treasure, you should count how many bits of sand here.” Belly said “Oh! How can we do it? There are too many bits of sand here!” But the statue didn’t say anything after that. Then they started to count the sand of this desert. In the meantime, they got tired and then fell asleep. But they really wanted to get the treasure so they woke up again and didn’t give up. Suddenly they fell into a big hole under the desert. There were a lot of rocks under the desert. They walked really carefully to avoid falling down. Then, they found a piece of rock with a special button on it. They pressed the button and the rock was opened. There was a box inside. They picked a key beside it and there were a lot of treasure inside the box. They were surprised and excited. Finally, the tutelary god took them back to the desert and they went back home with the treasure. After all, they had a good life with their parents forever. The Lost Money AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Tang Sum Yin, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was a girl who was caught by some wicked thieves. The girl was called Mary and she was 20 years old. She had a husband who had passed away. Her husband was called Daniel. Before Daniel died, he had put a lot of money in a place but he didn’t tell Mary where the money. Only one of his friend knew where the money was. OThe money was hid in the Gobi Desert. When Mary wanted to find out his husband’s money, some wicked thieves caught her and asked her for money. Mary told the thieves that she had no money. But the thieves didn’t believe her because she was wearing a dress which was expensive even though it had already become dirty. Mary felt scared so she told the truth to the thieves. The greedy thieves wanted to get the money so they used a rope to tie Mary’s hands and forced her to find the money with them. Mary felt scared and angry with the thieves but she didn’t have any weapons while the thieves had knives. Mary and the thieves walked and walked for 5 days! When the thieves got some food or water, they ate all and didn’t give any to Mary. Mary felt hungry, thirsty and she thought the thieves were selfish and cruel. Mary thought, ‘If I pretend to die, they may feel I am not useful to them anymore. So, they will let me go and give up to find Daniel’s money.’ Mary’s plan did work! The thieves left her alone and gave up! She was glad about it and she continued her way to find the money. On her way, she pretended to die for many times because she met many bad, selfish and greedy people. Sometimes she met some lions, bears and something scary and ferocious. But she didn’t give up and one day she found the money in a big hole of the desert. To her surprise, her husband revived at the same time! At last, they used the money to build a big and pretty house in the Gobi Desert. There they had a new born little boy and girl! The whole family lived in the Gobi Desert happily together. Friendship of Gobi AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Sun Wing Lam, Fiction: Group 2

i! My name is Fiona. I am a writer. I went to the Gobi Desert looking for inspiration to write my new book. I went to a barren desert and I saw a cactus. It is a story about friendship. Catherine was a herder who lived in North Gobi Desert. Karen was also a herder living in South Gobi Desert. HOne day Catherine and Karen took flocks of sheep to new pastureland to forage for food. Coincidentally, they met each other. Although they met each other for the first time, they felt they had met a long time ago. ‘Did we meet before?’ Catherine and Karen asked at the same time. They all laughed because they thought they really looked like old friends. Of course, they became good friends after that. Catherine and Karen always took flocks of sheep to the pastureland together. Time flew, they became friends for almost a year. Suddenly, Karen had a flu and fever. Luckily, Catherine had some medical knowledge so she knew how to cure Karen. Karen recovered very soon. Karen said, ‘Thank you for your care, Catherine.’ Their friendship became closer. Catherine and Karen buried their accessories under the sand, a symbol of lasting their friendship forever. One night, Catherine had serious headache but she didn’t want Karen worried about her. So she didn’t tell Karen about it. The next morning, Catherine and Karen had breakfast together as usual. Suddenly, Catherine yelled, ‘Who are you? Don’t touch me! Are you crazy?’ Karen was frightened, ‘Hey! It’s me! Do you still remember me?’ ‘Nuts!’ Catherine shouted at Karen. Actually Catherine lost her memories because of her headache last night. Catherine took her flocks of sheep and went away. After several days, Catherine remembered all the things; she remembered all things about Karen. She was extremely sorry for what she said to Karen. Catherine really wanted to meet Karen again and make apologies. Unfortunately, after several days she couldn’t meet Karen. Catherine was disappointed but she didn’t give up. She believed that she would meet Karen and say sorry to her some day. But things didn’t go smoothly. Although Catherine had some medical knowledge, she always got sick. It became worse because Catherine didn’t bring enough water when she left Karen. Human couldn’t live without water, so Catherine were going to die. After a few days without water, Catherine laid down on the sand and said,‘K… Karen, I’m sor…sorry.’ And she was dizzy. ‘Where am I? Where is Karen? Who are you? ’ Catherine asked. ‘My name is Macy. Here is my home. When I saw you, you were dizzy so I took care you.’ said Macy. Catherine asked, ‘Do you see a girl with long blond hair and wearing purple clothes? I can’t find my friend and so I got fainted. She is my best friend.’ Macy replied, ‘No. Did you argue with her?’ ‘Yes. I am very sorry to her. I need to go now, bye.’ Catherine said. Time flies, ten years over, Catherine still couldn’t find Karen. One day, they met each other again. Catherine was shocked but she was also glad. Karen asked, ‘Why did you say I was nuts? I am mad for you for a long time!’ ‘Sorry! I said you were nuts because I lost my memories. I have tried to find you but I couldn’t. I really want to say thank you and sorry, I wish you can forgive me.’ Catherine asked Karen to forgive her. Karen cried and said, ‘O…okay, I can forgive you. I will trea…treasure our friendship.’ They hugged together. Karen asked, ‘Do you remember that we buried our accessories under the sand?’ ‘Oh yes! I almost forget.’ Catherine said. ‘Shall we dig them out?’ Karen asked. ‘Of course! ‘Catherine said. Catherine said, ‘Our accessories have buried under our foot!’ They tried to dig them out. They treasured for their friendship more after that. Catherine suggested to put a cactus seed under the sand and let it grow. This cactus would witness their friendship closer and more precious. This is the end of my novel. Is it interesting or touching? By the way, this novel is a legend. People in the world also know this novel. People in Hong Kong know this novel, Taiwan know, Korea know, England know… The Gobi Survivor AD & FD of Pok Oi Hospital Mrs Cheng Yam On School, Kong Yin Ying, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there were some deserts in the north of Inner Mongolia. No one dared to go to those places. Ten years ago, there was a brave young man who was called Peter Poon. He wanted to make a trip to go there and told the others what it looked like. He got well-prepared and then set off to Inner Mongolia. He tried to learn more about the secret Oplace. In the market, he met an old man, who said that he was a wizard and told him not to be confused by the mirage in the desert. Peter tried his best to keep in mind the old man’s warning and he started his trip. He entered the desert area and walked for a few days. He saw the beautiful scenes of the desert at dawn and in the evening. After a week, the water he brought had been drunk off and eventually he felt very thirsty. At that time, he was very tired and confused. Suddenly, he saw an oasis not far away from him. He could see trees, grass and lakes. He forgot what the old man said, so he ran towards the oasis, but he couldn’t reach it until he was exhausted and fainted. After a very long time, Peter woke up. He noticed that he was in a tent and he was not thirsty anymore. In fact, Peter was rescued by a camel trading team. The people brought him back to a city in Inner Mongolia. At last, Peter went back home. The people asked him what he saw in the desert. He just said, “I forget it, but I remember it is as big as a country. I couldn’t see the end of the desert.” Actually, the desert which Peter described was the mysterious Gobi Desert. In , Gobi means a desert. It is the biggest desert in Asia! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Daniel Chau, Fiction: Group 2

t all started when our science teacher, Mr Chan told us about the project to make a model of the Solar System. Bill and John my best friends were grouped with me. After school, Bill and John invited me to their apartment to work on our project. When we arrived, I found a small box on the floor. “Is this yours?” I asked John. “No, it’s not mine,” Ihe replied. “Why don’t we open it and see what’s in there?” Bill said, “Weren’t we supposed to do our project? Mr Chan didn’t tell us anything to do about a box. “Yeah, it is better to continue on our project than to investigate some box that won’t do us any good, w…” Before I could continue my sentence the box opened and a strange green light shone out of it. A bolt of strong light was what I saw before I fainted. “You’re finally awake!” a man in front of me said. “How did I get here?” I asked. “I am one of the scientists who are going to the Gobi Desert to study the camel that can only found here. The Gobi camel. Suddenly, there was a great storm and we were swept away! After the storm stopped, we found you and two other boys lying on the sand. Both of them are awake now.” “Two other boys, then they must be my friends John and Bill! Where are they now?” I was very happy to see John and Bill again. He said yes and showed me the way. “Hey! You’re not John. Who are you?” I asked. I was very scared because I don’t want John and Bill die here. “Hello, I’m Twam, and he’s Bon.” One of the boys introduced. “Why are your names so strange?” I asked. “Come in,” Bon spoke silently “and then we will tell you why.” I did as Bon told me to. “Actually, we are from Eble, the world beside yours. Eble is a city that you humans would call a future city. Our technology is so good that you can basically do what you want. One of our prisoners, Lox used a stolen spaceship to escape from the prison, wanting to rule other galaxies. After many years, he finally found a planet called Earth that has life. He used the box as a bait to lead you here and install a new brain to you to help him rule Earth because the brain he wanted to give you could make you into an evil person who would endanger Earth. Because you are children the police cannot arrest you. What kind of children can rob banks? Human will eventually discover what is the purpose that he wanted to do that to you but it would be too late. He kidnapped you but we tracked him down and saved you. Because of starvation, we didn’t have time to do anything before we fainted.” Bon informed me. “Are you kidding me? I know there are two possibilities, either you are lying, or there is really someone who wants to rule the Earth. But by now I think you are lying.” “I’ve known that earthlings don’t believe that what other people say. Fortunately, I’ve brought my “Space Police” badge here. It represents my identity. You can look at it if you don’t believe me.” Twam said. I looked at it. It didn’t seem that it was a toy to fool me. So I believed him. “Then do you both know where are my best friends John and Bill are?” I asked. “Hmm… They should be at somewhere between Whales and Scotland. Although we are at Asia, we certainly have a machine that can bring us to Scotland. But we cannot let the scientists worry about us. We can only fake a sandstorm and escape tomorrow.” They said. After a day and ten minutes, we were speeding to Scotland. “This is called a disk, or spaceship, as you humans say. Meanwhile, at an abandoned house in Scotland, Bill and John are running for their lives to escape from the prisoner, Lox. “Hahaha, you can’t escape from me now, prepare to…” Before he could say anymore, Twam and Bon went off their spaceship and found Lox in front of them. “You will go back to prison!” Twam shouted. But Lox was prepared. He got a paper out of his pocket and chanted some language that nobody can understand. Suddenly, dust flew around him and he disappeared. “What is going on?” John shouted. “A manic chasing us for one moment and a funny guy appeared. This is the worst dream I ever had!” “No John, that’s not a dream. Let me explain…”I told him everything I knew and he said, “Then what should we do now?” he asked. “Because Lox had just stolen our spaceship, so we need to find him, arrest him, get back our spaceship to send you back to Hong Kong.” Bon suggested. “But what can we do?” Bill asked. “We cannot walk around the Earth to find him. And he may be in outer space!” “Ben is right. We need to eat too! I’m getting hungry.” I said. “That is not a problem. I have a machine that could make food appear. And you can give me metal and I can make a car. I’m not kidding. Look! There are enough metal for that. We only need petrol. Oh, I almost forgot that we have a kind of oil that can power up anything, so petrol isn’t a problem.” Bon said. After several minutes, we were driving to the main road and we found out that there is Lox driving a car in front of us! Twam used a bomb that can go through anything except living creatures, which he had in his pocket, and threw it to the spaceship. Lox was dead. Twam drove it back to where we were. “Thank you so much for helping us to save the Earth!” I thanked Twam and Bon and went back to Bill and John’s apartment. “What a journey!” I exclaimed as we arrived safely. “Next time, we ought to think carefully before doing something stupid!” Beritie the Writer in the Gobi Desert Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Han Albert Lim, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was a man called Bertie Entwhistle. He was the most famous writer in the whole wide world. His house was the biggest house in the world because lots of people bought his books and he was very rich. He wrote many kinds of books, like detective books and magical books. One day, he decided to go to Gobi Desert to Othink about what to write in his next book. The desert was very big and it seemed endless. It was full of sand. Everything started right, until the third day of Bertie’s journey. Bertie was sitting in his tent. Suddenly, the ground started to move, the sand flew up the blue sky, and a big dragon came out from the sand. It looked like it was very hungry and it wanted to eat Bertie up. Bertie pulled out a sword and fought with the dragon. But the dragon could fly up the sky and breathe fire. The dragon landed on the ground and Bertie used the knife and killed the dragon. He thought that everything already finished, but he was wrong. The sand flew up to the blue sky again. But this time, nothing came out from the sand, but the sand moved right to Bertie. Then he noticed that it was a sandstorm! He kneeled down and closed his eyes shut. When the sandstorm ended, Bertie’s body was almost all covered with sand. Even his throat was full was sand! So he used a towel to wipe himself and cleared his throat a bit. Then he saw a businessman that was tired and hungry and lay on the sand with cargo on the camel next to him. Bertie gave some food and water and tried to help him. The business man said,“You’re such a good man, let me give you a bottle of magic powder. You just need to say`Fly magic powder,make my dream come true.’Then tell the powder your dream, and then it will make your dreams come true.”After he said that, he disappeared. Bertie then only saw his tent covered with sand. But he was too tired to walk back to his tent.He looked at his hand, in his surprise, the magic powder that the businessman gave him was still there! So he carefully pulled some of the powder out from the bottle. Then he said,“Fly, magic powder, and make my dream come true. My dream is call a helicopter to save me.” On that moment, a helicopter landed on the sand and workers came and pulled Bertie into the helicopter. Then, he saw two blind people on the helicopter, and then he took the magic powder out from his bag and said, “Fly, magic powder, and make my dream come true. My dream is to make these two blind people to see.” Then the blind people could see at that moment. Then Bertie slept until he went back to his house. The next day, Bertie went out from his house and saw a kid crying. He asked the kid “Why are you crying?” “I dropped my favourite teddy bear in the lake and I couldn’t get it back.” So Bertie took the bottle of magic powder and said,“Fly, magic powder, and make my dream come true. My dream is to make this little boy’s teddy bear come out of the lake. Then the teddy bear flew out from the lake and dropped onto the ground. The boy thanked Bertie and ran away happily. After Bertie went home, he started to write his new book, it was called “Magic Powder.” The story was about a family going to Gobi Desert, but a creature came out from the sand and tried to eat them. Luckily, it suddenly turned into a bottle of magic powder and the family used it to help lots of people like make a cloud filled with water vapor and put it on Africa or make all the people in the world have a long life. When the book sold, lots of people bought this book and Bertie got more money and he used the money to help the people in need. The Quest of the Gobi Desert Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Ho Cheuk Yan Grace, Fiction: Group 2

t was a fine morning. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and the grass was sprouting. Janice and Clarice were playing with sticks in the tent. They were Mongolian sisters and were curious. Janice liked reading and Clarice liked drawing. Both of them liked not only chasing horses but also looking after lambs. IAfter a while, older Janice got bored of the game and complained, “ I want something exciting instead.” “Perhaps chasing calves?” Clarice suggested, trying to lift her sister’s spirit up. “No, we can’t. They are sleeping right now.”, Janice said. “Explore the desert?” “No, it’s too exciting...” “Hey! You said you want that!” “Well, I did, but...” “No buts. Lets go!” So they went to the Gobi Desert. They sneaked out and packed a few things just before they left: water bags, a first aid kit and buns, but neither did they know the dangers of the Gobi Desert. They quickly reach the “Green Wall” of Gobi Desert. However, the trees were dead and broken. It was like somebody had set fire on them. Clarice and Janice were determined to find the reason, and save the Green Wall. They ran through the trees and tripped on a flat rock, on which letters were carved: “This must be the destroyer’s name,” breathed Janice, “in a code.” “Let’s go home first to work out the code, it’s getting dark,” moaned Clarice, but they could not, for home was far away. They had to stay here. So they looked for a cave to sleep in. After an hour, they found a cave that turned out to be the bear’s home. When morning came, they were caught. Just then there was a shriek: Baby Bear had cut itself with a rock. Janice begged Papa Bear to let her help baby bear and he did, so Janice took out the first aid kit and bandaged Baby Bear’s hurt leg. At first, it was hard since the cub kept wiggling. Later, Clarice sang a lullaby and calmed the cub down, so it was easier. Papa Bear and Mama Bear were grateful for what they did to their cub so they gave them a map. It could show them anywhere. They told the bears about the mystery of the Green Wall and asked how to fix it. The bears said, “You need some magical objects to fix that. One is this map, another is the key that unlocks anything and the dust of healing.” “Where’s the key?” asked Janice and Clarice eagerly. They both wanted to know, but the bears didn’t know. “Ask the map for help,” suggested Mama Bear, so the Mongolians repeated their question to the map. To nobody’s surprise the map showed them Silk Road and an oasis, under which was a shimmering golden key. As the girls walked along Silk Road, they spotted a little marbled polecat. It had white back and yellow hair all over its body. It crawled on the sand. It was very hungry therefore they gave it some crumbs. The little marbled polecat was very touched by their kindness. It said to them, “I will come too. I will help you.” They set off on their quest again. As they walked on, they talked about the flat rock that is now in Janice’ rucksack. The little polecat told them how to break the code on the rock. Finally, they reached the oasis. They found that in one of the ponds, the water was full, as it was shown and under the water was the key that opens anything. Clarice came up with an idea and told the others about it. Janice saw a pack of camels ahead of them. Janice led them to the oasis. The camels were very happy. They drank almost all of the water. Then, they strode away. Step by step, Clarice went down slowly. She collected the water and the key and climbed up. Janice and the marbled polecat were delighted for they hadn’t drunk a lot of water in the desert. Unlucky, their happiness did not last long. They were surrounded by wolves. The sisters and the marbled polecat fell into the empty pond. The wolves circled the pit slowly. “We’re gonna wait for Master. Just don’t let them out.” said the leader. The polecat whispered to the girls, “Cover your nose.” The girls did as they were told although they don’t know why. Then, the marbled polecat let out a fart and the wolves ran away until they were gone from sight. Then, the company got away from the pit to carry on their journey. Finally, they found the tree. They inserted the key that opens anything into the hole. Suddenly, the tree began to sink under the ground, revealing a glass bottle, and inside was silver dust - the dust of healing. Then red acid soared above their heads and hit a sprout. It was dead the next moment. The girls looked back and saw the Mongolian Death Worm. It roared, “Have mercy on me. Let desertification continue. Let the Gobi rule Mongolia and China!” The little marbled polecat send a message to the girls by eye, “Praise him. He liked to boast.” Then it scurried off. The girls said all kinds thing, praising him. The worm was so pleased that he forgot to kill them! As they were doing it, the polecat was doing something else. It put all the objects together in a circle it drew with sticks and said the words “allghoi khorkhoi !” (The other name of the Death Worm) The objects flew up and combined together. Then they became a cloud. The cloud rained on the Green Wall and it burst back to life! The evil worm saw trees everywhere. He cried out and began to sink under the sand until he was out of sight. As the sisters saved the Great Wall, they went back home. The Adventures of Prince Kinnosaz Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Michelle Ng, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there lived a prince called Kinnosaz and a princess called Lilia. Both lived in the Gobi Desert for a few months. One day, an evil witch turned Princess Lilia into a stone statue. Then, she took over the place where Prince Kinnosaz and Princess Lilia lived. OWhen Prince Kinnosaz decided to kill the evil witch and was packing, the god called Pinputanarti appeared and told him, “Young man, I know that you are going to try to get rid of the witch. Let me tell you what to do. You need these items that I will give to you: The Sword of Destiny, a few pieces of meat, a cute toy which is known to be an enemy of the Gobi Bear GONDAK BICKATBEAR, a walking stick, lots of food and water, a small bowl and a small plastic bag. Indeed, you need to collect three items which will kill the witch: A small bowl of water from the oasis in the middle of the desert, a fistful of sand from the highest sand dune in the desert and a feather from the Golden Eagle GIGIAK ETAPHUSUS. You’ll just need to throw the three items at the witch. And also, to break the witch’s spell, you shall kiss the statue. Good luck, hope you can find the items and destroy the ‘invincible’ witch!” So then, Pinputanarti gave the items he needed for the “Hunt of the Weapons of the Evil” and left. The next day, Prince Kinnosaz set off for the journey. He walked several days to the middle of the desert. At last he found the oasis that was in the middle of the desert. When the prince tried to get a bowlful of water, GONDAK BICKATBEAR attacked him. Prince Kinnosaz thought for a moment and threw the toy at the bear. He (the bear) ran away, since he was very stupid and he thought the toy, which was fake, was a real enemy of his. Then, the prince took a bowlful of water and walked away. After a few weeks, Prince Kinnosaz arrived at the highest sand dune. A snow leopard called Silkiea Leona (SnowLeoparda) attacked him. The prince thought for another moment and threw the pieces of meat to a small patch of land below the sand dunes. SnowLeoparda ran down to eat it. But, she didn’t know that the meat was for distraction. When she went to eat the meat, Prince Kinnosaz grabbed a fistful of sand and put it in the plastic bag, then went down, whistling. When she tried to get the prince, he was already gone. He walked for a year. During that time, he needed to cook small animals that lived in the desert to eat, since he ran out of food and all left was several logs, rocks and stones. Finally, Prince Kinnosaz encountered the golden eagle, GIGIAK ETAPHUSUS. She was very fierce. She nearly killed the young prince. The duo battled for two weeks. Suddenly, Prince Kinnosaz thought about the sword of destiny. So he grabbed it and stabbed it at the eagle’s heart. The eagle fell down to the ground, dead. Then, Prince Kinnosaz took a feather, and walked away with his treasure. Finally, he returned to his home, which was taken over. Then, Prince Kinnosaz killed the witch by tossing the three items at the witch. After that, he kissed the statue (which was very gross) and the princess was free! And Prince Kinnosaz and Princess Lilia lived happily ever after. Surviving in the Gobi Desert American International School, Jordan Fox, Fiction: Group 2

he Gobi Desert was silent as can be. You could only hear the sound of a jerboa’s feet making its way to his family. Soon the silence was disturbed by a triumphant tribe of Mongolians marching through the rocky hills. The tribe was travelling back from a successful trade. They were in a line with the chief at the front and the load in the back. TThe desert was cold. So they wore deels and heavy boots. The people in the tribe were almost identical. They all had black hair, tanned skin, beady eyes, and were all very cold. “Chuluun,” the chief called to one of his people,” how long will it take to get back home?” “Another three days.” “Then we should rest now.” Everyone heard the plan and found a place to camp. They set out their campsite, and cooked their dinner. Just as the chief entered his tent, a man barged in. “Chief, there’s a sandstorm, and it’s heading towards us!” The chief charged out of his tent a saw the storm. Everyone was panicking. “Pack your equipment and let’s go!” commanded the chief. Everyone packed hastily, but they were too late. The sandstorm was right in front of them. The wind was blowing eighty miles an hour! Bits of sand flew into people’s eyes as they huddled together. The chaos felt like it went on for hours. Finally it stopped. There was nothing left except the people. Everyone looked at their surroundings. The place was empty. No one was sure if they had travelled somewhere else or if they were in the same place. The chief recovered from his anxiety and made new commands. “I know this looks bad, but we are going to get back home safely. Let us continue our journey.” The beaten up people looked at the chief and formed their line. For days the tribe continued to walk day and night. They only stopped when rocks were nearby. They would lift it up and look for water. As for food the men had to strangle animals like gazelles. Then one day something extraordinary happened. It had been sixteen days since the sandstorm had wiped everything from the tribe. The people were desperate for food and water, since it was very scarce. The chief who was in despair saw something in the distance. He wasn’t sure what it was. “Chuluun,” the chief said weakly,” do you see anything over there?” Chuluun squinted and saw an object poking out. “Yes,” “What do you think it is?” “I don’t know,” “I think we should go over and check what it is. We can’t risk not knowing if there is food there” Chuluun told everyone the news. They changed their direction and headed towards the mysterious object. The sun’s rays made it hard for them to see where it was. Finally they were close enough to see what looked like parts of a machine. There was a turbine lying just beside it. It was a broken helicopter. The tribe curiously advanced towards it. The chief looked from the helicopter to the damaged pieces. He was starting to think how this would save them. He had an idea. “I want you two to go search inside.” he said as he pointed at a middle-aged man and a young woman, “If you find anything interesting report to me immediately.” The man and woman entered the aircraft and began their search. It wasn’t long until the lady was running over to the chief. “Chief, Chief,” the woman said, “there is water, and food, and all sorts of things. I’ll show you, please come.” The chief followed the woman into the helicopter. Green water was dripping down from the ceiling and into the floor as soon as he entered. The air inside was foul, as if eggs were laid out for a long time. The woman led the chief into a room in the rear end. Inside was a kitchen. He could see some sort of foods and liquids lying around. He didn’t care what it was or if bacteria had gotten inside. He just wanted his people to be hopeful. He called the man to come over and help him carry everything outside. When the people saw what they had brought it was as if they’ve been recharged. Grins stretched across their weary faces, as they cheered. “I know this is exciting, but we need to store this food. Who knows how long we’ll be here.” The chief passed out tinned food and water. The people demolished it greedily. The rest of the food was put inside a straw bag, they had found and dragged it. He signaled the tribe to carry on walking, and so they did. They carried on their journey with casual stops. The state of the people was improving. Their bodies were growing stronger. Their speed was increasing every day. Very soon they could see a village but it wasn’t theirs. A big farm of camels was near them. It must’ve been the village’s camels. Just by seeing that farm, the chief had a sneaky plan. Soon the word spread out and everyone knew what to do. The tribe walked quietly towards the farm. There was a gate to keep the camels in and village men herding them. The chief climbed over the gates and unlocked it. The gate made such a screech the men quickly noticed what had just happened. The chief ran for his life as he got everyone a camel. There was one camel left. It was clearly very old and very, very slow. The men nearly caught it, but it kicked them off one by one and ran freely with the chief. The ride towards their village seemed quicker from then on. The people slept on their camels as the chief’s camel lead the rest. Then at the distance the chief could see tents. It was their tribe. They were finally home. The Wishing Turquoise American International School, Aditi Jain, Fiction: Group 2

ey! Mom, we got water from the -” Erdene paused. Suddenly she and her twin sister, “ Oyuun, looked at each other. Their dad, who spends his life in the Gobi desert finding the wishing turquoise, wasn’t on his working desk. During the afternoon he rarely moves of his desk. Oyuun and Erdene rushed into the kitchen, their parents’ room, then Hinto every room in their little house. “Where are mom and dad?” they exclaimed at the same time. Their mouths fell open, as they realized that they weren’t home anymore. Then Erdenes’ keen eyes discovered something new. Sitting on the working desk was a yellow Post-It note stuck to a tiny, green chocolate box. Oyuun, the smarter twin, read the note aloud:

To: Oyuun and Erdene Just needed to borrow Bayarmaa and Batukhan for a few days. They will return if they tell me where the Wishing do their job. Love, Your only favorite Uncle.

To Oyuun and Erdene it was evident Uncle Chuulun , their dads only younger brother, had taken their mom and dad. A few decades ago, everybody was happy when Batukhan and Chuulun used to work together to find the wishing turquoise and accomplish their family’s task. Soon Batukhan found out Chuulun wanted to use the wishing turquoise for his own selfish reasons, not to fulfill their ancestor’s task. That’s why Batukhan and Chuulun stopped working together. Each of them wanted to get to the wishing mineral first but they have to use the clues their ancestors left behind for them to find the location of it. Chuulun must have taken Batukhan and Bayamaraa to talk them into telling him the location. Oyuun and Erdene packed everything they needed and set off on fat, little, Saikhan (their Bactrian camel) to about 80 kilometers from here. Oyuun wondered how they were going to get through the largest desert in Asia. It was very still and silent in the Gobi desert. All they could hear was Saikhan’s hooves hitting on the scorching, hard ground. Soon they passed a large group of quick Asiatic Wild Ass. Oyuun suspected they were running away from a predator so they had to speed up Saikhan. Then Erdene heard her stomach give a loud grumble. Since it was about six o’clock it was starting to get chillier. Suddenly Oyuun coughed and sneezed. Before you knew it she was continuously sneezing madly. In the distant Erdene could see Ephedra, the plant which could cure colds, and an oasis. Erdene took a bucket and a bag, leaped of the camel, ran to the Ephedra and the oasis. As quick as a flash she was back with a bucket full of water and enough ephedra for the three of them. Once they finished dinner they again commenced their journey to find the wishing turquoise. Finally after long, dull hours of tranquillity, they reached the mysterious Gobi cave. Since the cave was small they had to leave Saikhan outside. As they entered the gloomy cave their eyes tried to accustom to the darkness. Suddenly Oyuun stepped on something and slipped into the world of darkness. Oyuun’s ear-piercing scream was as loud as a lion’s roar. Unfortunately, Erdene tripped on a rock and fell in the deep and broad hole. She landed on something warm and soft. It felt like she had just left her heart and stomach above the hole. Then she looked around to find Oyuun. “Oyuun!” she called in panic. She heard someone quietly grouse. “Are you alright?” “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? my sister just sat on me with her bony bottom, ” a hoarse voice said, with sarcasm dripping in each word. Erdene felt relieved. If Oyuun was being annoying she must be fine. As she stood up and brushed the dust off. Just by the corner of her sharp eyes she could make out a long, narrow path ahead of them. As she started dragging Oyuun down the spooky path she heard a hiss. Suddenly something’s eyes opened. Before you knew the whole three metre path was filled with green, slit-shaped eyes. It was a plate-tailed gecko! Erdene and Oyuun ran for their lives. It was a coincidence they didn’t step on any. While they ventured forward they realized they were in an ancient looking room made out of rusty bones and were only standing on 40 centimetre track made out of bones which lead to the magnificent wishing turquoise. Erdene’s mouth was hanging open so widely you could fit a whole apple in it. Oyuun was in awe too but she regained consciousness before Erdene. So she closed Erdene’s mouth for her, grabbed her hand and ran down the bony path with her twin sister. Little did the twins know if they stepped on the wrong bone or fell off the side they wouldn’t survive. Successfully they reached the beautiful wishing turquoise. As they held it together with both hands the turquoise glowed and an ancient looking paper that had a spell written on it, popped into Oyuun’s hand. She first read the spell in her head. “We’ve got to pledge to the wise fish that we don’t desire the wishing turquoise,” whispered Oyuun, “then we have to make a wish.” Erdene whispered something to Oyuun. They both slowly nodded then started to grin. “Three, two, one,” counted down Erdene. “I don’t desire this mineral I never ever will, Then I can make a wish and pledge to the wise fish, That I don’t desire this mineral I never even will If I break this pledge I’ll get hit by a sledge But I don’t desire this mineral I never even will, I wish the wishing turquoise never existed.” The twins finished saying the spell together. Soon they discovered they were in England with their grandparents and parents. The Gobi Desert American International School, Katie Lam, Fiction: Group 2

rash! Blood was splattered everywhere on the exposed, bare rock. Miraculously, three people survived. It all started when a group of people were flying on a plane from to Beijing. The plane had suddenly lost control of itself. The three survivors were the pilot called Sam, a Russian man named David, and a nine year old girl called Katherine. CFortunately, both David and Sam were slightly injured while Katherine only had a few scratches and bruises. As they realized what had just happened, they hobbled weakly around each other and introduced themselves. They also made a promise to find a way to survive and get out of this cold, dry place together. As night falls when the sky started turning pitch dark, the group desperately decided to get some needed rest. The next morning, Katherine woke up first. She walked around, constantly poking at the golden sand with the tip of her toe. Suddenly, she jumped around exuberantly. She had discovered a thick book half buried in the sand. As she flipped through the pages, something caught her eye. It was a reference book about the Gobi desert. While she started glimpsing the chapters, she found that the Gobi Desert is the fifth largest desert in the world covering approximately 500,000 square miles. On the back of the book was a map showing that the Gobi covers parts of northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. After Katherine studied the surrounding landscapes, she realized the plane had crashed near the Eastern Gobi desert , the most eastern of the five Gobi eco-regions. Then, she turned a few pages and made a startled discovery. “Sam! David!” Katherine called out immediately. Sam and David stumbled over to her. “What?” they mumbled. “Look what I found!” she yelled jubilantly. They were glancing at some desert plants. “We can eat those wild onions.” exclaimed Katherine while pointing at a photo. As the group started their mission to find their only food source, they discovered Saxaul trees, saltworts, desert shrubbery, and grass. Finally, they found some wild onions clustered together. Katherine chopped them with a hard blade of grass. While they were munching on them, various desert animals huddled over. They were black-tailed gazelles, marbled polecats, snow leopards, golden eagles, brown bears, and wolves. Fearing their lives, Katherine scooped up her guidebook and ran while David and Sam trailed behind. Shortly after, a Bactrian camel raced over and threw its head toward them. David immediately knew what it meant. He hurriedly told everyone to climb on one of the camel’s humps. Once they did, the camel trotted away gingerly. With each of the careful steps, the camel strode through the powdery sand; they drifted off to a nice and peaceful sleep… All of a sudden, a sharp jolt woke them up. The camel had just rose up from its water break. “Thank you for finding water for us!” Sam said heavenly to the camel. They all climbed off and gave the camel some grass, along with a nice soothing pat on the neck. The camel gave them a snort of pleasure, and then galloped away. Sam, David, and Katherine knelt down and scooped up the fresh water from the oasis with their hands. It was a true delight as they had never drank water that felt so tasty before. Meanwhile, they walked back to the location where the plane crashed. They found some plastic bottles inside a survival kit. “We will use them to store water.” exclaimed David. Gradually, they walked around in the endless desert, trying to find a way out. They repeated that for months, riding on Bactrian camels, finding water, filling their bottles, and eating wild onions. One baking hot and blistering day, while the group was riding Bactrian camels, the air abruptly turned freezing cold without any warnings. They all shuddered and shivered, trying to figure out what had just happened. The camels, however, prodded along, as if nothing was bothering them. Curious about the changing climate, Katherine reached out her book, and swiftly skimmed through the index. “Hmm” Katherine sighed, having no success. “There, over there!” pointed David looking over her shoulder. Katherine thanked David, and flipped to the correct describing the weather pattern of the desert. It described that the Gobi desert’s temperature can change rapidly, within 24 hours. For instance, in the morning, it can be frigid cold, however in the afternoon it can get scorchingly hot. Katherine thought diligently for a moment, then hastily jumped off the camel, and sprinted to where the plane crash site. She tore off the dead men’s bloody clothes, and then, wrapped them around herself. Sam and David did the exact same thing. When the air got hot again, they would take them off. The next day, the survivors heard a loud rumbling sound. Sam recognized it was the sound of a turbine engine. Katherine looked up and saw a plane attempting to land. “Sam, David! Come here!” she screamed on the top of her lungs. The group dashed towards the spot at full speed where the plane had landed. However, months of struggles in the wilderness under harsh conditions had taken the toll. The harder they ran, the plane seemed farther and farther away. Eventually, they collapsed on the glazing sand... When Katherine woke up, she found herself on a bed in an unfamiliar place. She peeked through the slits between the window shades. What she saw was a long winding castle wall stretching around the stubby mountains. She recognized that it was the Great Wall and they were now in Beijing! Katherine excitedly woke Sam and David up to deliver the great news. They celebrated and danced wildly until they were too tired to speak. As the three friends enjoyed the panoramic view of the Great Wall, they agreed that “The Gobi Adventure” was the most memorable experience they’ve ever had! Adventure in the Gobi Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Phoebe Cheng On Wing, Fiction: Group 2

ebecca Jones poured a can of baked beans into the pot. The copy of Morning Times was laid on the kitchen table. Annie Smiths stared at the headlines ‘A Group of fossilists went missing at the Gobi’. “I’m sorry for your brother, Rebecca,” said Annie, breaking the silence. Rebecca grabbed the paper and threw it into the recycle bin. “It isn’t your fault, Raccidents always happen,” said Rebecca. “Besides, it is the end of the semester. I will go home and clean the house. I have had the ticket already.” Annie stood up and gave Rebecca a necklace. It was made of many different types of jewels into one, the rope was made of fresh grass. “Your brother gave me this. Go to the attic to find the answer.” Rebecca put on the necklace and headed home. Rebecca boarded the train to China, Beijing. She thought of her house in her village. Rebecca was born in the , but her family moved back to Beijing. Rebecca’s sister Mayline still lived in the old house. Rebecca soon arrived at the village. A high wall surrounded the little village. “Rebie! Over here!” shouted a voice. Mayline was grinding peanuts in the barn. “Madame Mayline, permission to attic” Rebecca asked. “Permission granted!” said Mayline. Rebecca pushed and opened the door. Her necklace glowed brightly when she touched the box of hope. Rebecca pulled out the box. She loved the box when she was small. Rebecca opened the box and suddenly disappeared. When Rebecca appeared, she was a bit dizzy and fainted. When she woke up, a boy was staring at her. “Where am I?” asked Rebecca. “You are in the Gobi Desert,” said the boy. “My name is Lynx.” “My name is Rebecca,” said Rebecca, sitting up straight, her necklace gleamed in the tent. Lynx was in shock. “Let’s go out and have dinner, my dad is grilling a sheep tonight.” After an awfully quiet dinner, Rebecca tucked herself under a sheepskin blanket. She was wearing an enormous woolly jumper which covered her legs. The next day, Lynx arranged a trip to a cave. When they arrived, Lynx pulled out a stone which was wrapped in a piece of silk, he put the stone in a hole carved in the middle of a stone wall. The wall suddenly moved away, revealing a gold statue of a queen. In the statue’s hand was a gold ring which had a hole in it. It used to hold the Jade of Truth. But when a group of fossilists came into this cave last week, a gang of robbers rushed in and took them away, taking the Jade of Truth with them. “Please help me find the Jade of Truth!” said Lynx. “I will, as long as I could find my brother,” said Rebecca. “Your necklace will guide us,” said Lynx. The following day, Lynx had gotten permission to leave the yurt. “Hurry up, Lynx!” shouted Rebecca. Lynx leapt on the horse which Rebecca was on and they took off. Lynx stopped in front of a yurt near the Great Wall of China. “Who is there?” said a little voice. “The Lynx tribe is near the Himalayas.” A little girl popped out, “The Hyena tribe, please to meet you. My name is Etoile.” Rebecca gave Etoile the necklace, “Please give back the Jade of Truth! Please!” Etoile gave Lynx the Jade. “My tribe went off to find something called ‘kelp’ in some place called Pacific Ocean since great grandma Maize has been sick and only ‘kelp’ is able to cure her,” said Etoile. Lynx looked at Rebecca. Rebecca explained,” ‘kelp’ is a kind of plant in the oceans.” Lynx looked at Etoile and gave her a bottle full of disgusting and slimy green liquid. “This is what your great grandma Maize needs, pleased also send her this letter,” said Lynx. Etoile thanked Lynx and went back into the yurt. “What did you give Etoile?” asked Rebecca on the way back to the yurt. “Kelphine, something my cousin Coy gave me,” said Lynx. “Maize was actually the goddess of Maize all over the world, she can make maize grow immediately where she wants. That’s why we got maize growing near our yurt.” Lynx stopped in front of the cave and moved away the stone wall. The statue gleamed under the cave’s touches. Lynx put the Jade carefully on the ring, but he stopped and pulled the ring out of the statue’s hand and gave it to Rebecca. “Take this to remember me, I’m sorry about your brother,” Rebecca felt dizzy and fainted once more. When she recovered, she was in the attic again. Mayline marched into the room, “You have been up here too long!” she shouted angrily. Rebecca leapt to the window and jumped down to the ground. Rebecca looked at her fingers, the gold ring shimmered under the golden sun. The box was sitting on the floor beds of the attic. Who knows who is going on another adventure soon….. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Chow Lok Nga, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, in the North West of China, the Gobi Desert has found. Before that, a strange and extraordinary thing has happened. Many years ago, the Gobi Desert was an enormous village, many little smurfs lived there and all the little smurfs were commanded by a big bear, called Rilakkuma. ORilakkumas were rude to the smurfs, so they hate Rilakkuma very much. One day, an old smurf, called Uyghur, suggested to his son, which was a friend of Rilakkuma, “Don’t you think that Rilakkuma is too foolish, stubborn and rude? Let’s make a trickery for him, do you agree? Uyghur’s son said, “I think that is a great idea but we should plan first. I would like to make grass soup for Rilakkuma, he loves to drink soup. We can add some soften wood to let Rilakkuma think it as just some grass, if he eats the wood, he will become a frog after one day, after we finish making, I can pretend to give some essence to him, then he will believe in me.” “your suggestion was good, let’s start making the soup now.” Uyghur and his son really started making their soup without telling other smurfs. They made the soup for a week, and that was finally finished. Uygur’s son took the “grass” soup to Rilakkuma’s home. When he got to Rilakkuma’s home, Rilakkuma let him to come in. Uyghur’s sone announced, “This grass soup is the tastiest forever! Please receive it and drink it. “Rilakkuma really believe his words, he immediately got Uyghur’s son’s soup, and swallowed the soup within two seconds. “Wow! Very delicious, I admire you!” Uyghur’s son was very satisfied, he could not know what will happen after that day. One day later, Rilakkuma really became a frog! He was a brown frog which was smaller than a baby smurf! He did not know what happened, he even did not know he became a frog! Rilakkuma went to the smurf’s village, when Uyghur saw this frog, he asked his son, “Hey, is the stupid frog Rilakkuma? Uyghur’s son saw the frog and he jumped up, “Yes! Yes! This idea is success! This frog is exactly Rilakkuma, you rude bear, it is our turn to administer back our place, this is our place, smurf’s place, Yeah!” He told everyone this message and everyone was pleased to Uyghur’s son, even Uyghur was proud of his intelligent. Rilakkuma the frog went around the smurf village and always said “Gobi” “Gobi” “Gobi”, the smurfs are free now! The next day, a great storm called desert came, it was really strong that all the smurfs died except Uyghur’s son, all the house were damaged by the desert and the enormous village became nothing except Uyghur’s son, he felt very lonely. He decided to leave this place. He walked slowly for day and night, with no food or rest. Uyghur’s son was too tired after walking for fifteen days and he sat down for a rest under a little tree. Ten hours later, a strange old woman came, she bought many food and wanted to travel the place that was the smurf’s village before. That old woman saw Uyghur’s son sleeping not far away from her. However, Uyghur’s son woke up suddenly and he saw that strange old woman. “Who are you?” he grumbled. The old woman said, “Oh! You know how to speak! But… but you were not a human! That was strange!” Uyghur’s son moaned,” I am a smurf, what does human mean?” The strange old woman exclaimed, “Oh…oh! You said you were a smurf! You look very thin and tired, do you want some food? Uyghur’s son said, “Oh! Thanks a lot! You are a wise and kind, you have another thing behind you, what was that? He asked when he was gobbling the food, “That was my camel, it was an animal, it can ride, do you want to try? Ah…. but why you were here all by yourself?” Uyghur’s son muttered, “Do you know that this was an enormous village before? We were commanded by a rude bear called Rilakkuma, and I gave some soup to him to let become a frog, after a while, a storm called desert came, I don’t know why it was called desert, but the old guys said it was desert, after the storm, only was left. I felt very lonely and decided to leave my beloved village. Fifteen days later, I was too tired and lied down to have a sleep. Fortunately, you came.” “This was terrible! We can take my camel together and ride.” said the woman. Uyghur’s son thanked her and they rode together on the camel. The old woman was very creative. She gave a name to the place where the smurf’s village has located before. It was “The Gobi Desert”, the word “Gobi” was the word “desert” in Uyghur language. The Gobi Desert was the one the real Gobi Desert in nowadays. It was located in the Silk Road of the North West China and in the South of Mongolia. There were many fossils found and many camels lived there. The fossils may be the smurf’s body! The Gobi Desert has 1295000km2, so imagine how enormous that the smurf’s village is! The Gobi is a cold desert, with frost and occasionally snow occurring on its dunes. Besides being quite far north, it is also located on a plateau roughly 910-1,520 metres (2,990-4,990 ft) above saw level, which contributes to its low temperatures. The real reason why The Gobi Desert has become a desert is that the expansion is particularly rapid on the southern edge into China, which has seen 3,660 km2 (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year by the Gobi Desert. Dust storms, which used to occur regularly in China, have increased in frequency in the past 20 years, mainly due to desertification. New Tales of the Gobi Desert - Fiction Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Tsz To Lau, Fiction: Group 2

ong long ago, there were four diamonds that governed the Gobi Desert. A strong power could be released when they were put together to form a big diamond. Many people wanted to own them but no one could find them. A fortitudinous adventurer found the diamonds in a fortuitous encounter. When he Ltried to bring them together, he met a sand storm. He dropped in the floating sand and died. The diamonds were disappeared too! Everyone was socked after knowing the news. They worried that if the diamonds were disappeared, the Gobi Desert would vanish! Many people continued to find the diamonds but they all died one by one by accident. Only their ghost flew into the sand and saw the diamonds. A strong young man brought much food and water, went into the desert. He felt something under his feet suddenly. It was a box. He saw a paper inside the box. It wrote, ’The diamonds are just under your feet!’ He used a trowel to dig down. It was unbelievable. He saw the shining diamonds! He put them in his leather bag carefully. He wanted to put them together to get the power of owning the desert. During the journey back home, he stayed in the tavern. Unfortunately, the diamonds were seen by the servant when tidying his room. The emperor heard about it and was very anxious. He caught the young man. ‘I’m not a fool to keep the four diamonds with me. You won’t get all of them if you kill me!’ the young man said with full of confidence. The emperor was very angry but he pretended to be relaxed. ‘I’ll let you go if you tell me where they are, but how would you prove that you are not lying?’ the emperor said. ‘Here is one of the four diamonds. You can take it now!’ the young man said. ‘I hid the rest in the Gobi cave. The hidden entrance will be shown only under the full moon.’ he continued. He then turned and walked out of the palace while the emperor was still thinking on what he said. He did not look back and kept walking for a day until it was far away from the Gobi Desert and the country. He took out three shiny diamonds from his pocket. He closed his eyes and smiled. The Gobi Desert still exists, but no one knows where the 3 diamonds are. New Tales of Gobi Desert: Letter to the Gobi Desert Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Wong Yi Ki Erica, Fiction: Group 2

t was the winter holidays. I was bored out of my mind. I guess it wasn’t normal, since all my friends were all having fun. But I really had nothing to do. I had done all that was possible. I was an adventurous person and that personality always got me in trouble. Just then I heard the mail boy on his bike. So I decided to go get the mail. IThe mail boy pushed the letters through the slot of the mailbox carelessly. One letter fell out at my feet. I shook my head at his clumsiness. Picking up the letter, I saw that it was addressed to me. Finally, something to do! I was so eager that I ripped it open and started reading there. But when I got to the end of the letter, I was confused. Here’s what the letter said:

Dear Mr. Jake,

Congratulations! You are invited to a trip to the Gobi Desert. To enter, you only have to say, ‘I agree’, and you will experience the adventure of a lifetime!

Sincerely,

Sir Geoffrey

Chairman, Association for Desert Survivors

P.S. Mr. Jake, we assure you this is NOT a joke.

I was really honored to get this letter, but what was it all about? Highly suspicious. I read the letter again and again. I was curiously tempted. Before I knew it, I was saying the two words. ‘I agree!’ Nothing happened at first. I was relieved. Then I heard a whoosh and a sandstorm suddenly whipped up. I was caught up in the swirling sand and was whisked away. Before I could shout for help, I felt a jolt and landed in an undignified way in Gobi Desert. I looked around. The Gobi was yellow, dry and HOT. Gazelles were grazing on some plants. A few camels were walking around. I was pondering what to do when I heard a voice squawking, ‘About time! You’re very, very late.’ I looked up and saw a golden eagle looking down at me. Then it opened its mouth and started complaining more. I was horrified. I started screaming but the eagle slapped a wing over my mouth. ‘Shh! I’m your tour guide for this trip. Trust me, you’re going to need my help!’ it squawked. ‘I’m George, by the way. Did you know that the temperature in Gobi could be extreme? No?’ He would have gone on all day if I hadn’t shut him up. I suddenly felt cold. I discovered that the sky was turning black. It was nighttime. A few jerboas had already poked their little heads out of their burrows. I decided to find a place to rest tonight. While we walked around looking for a place to sleep in, George kept stopping at every single plant and giving long explanations just to be a ‘good tour guide’. So you can see why I was utterly exhausted when we finally found a cave near a sand dune. As soon as we got in, George immediately put his head under his wing. I didn’t know whether I should be mad or amused. Before he started snoring, he muttered something about a challenge. I was so tired that I didn’t pay much attention to what he said. I lay down next to him and thought about home. I thought I would never fall asleep, but as soon as my head hit the ground, I started snoring like George. I woke suddenly the next morning. I looked out of the cave. The sand dunes had frosted over in one night. Suddenly, I saw a snow leopard out of the corner of my eye. I panicked and tried to calm myself down, telling myself that it wasn’t interested in us. Then the leopard looked straight at me. My heart pounded. The leopard bared its teeth and snarled. It leapt towards our cave. I screamed, grabbed George and ran out of the cave. The snow leopard hissed and came after us. I ran for my life, the leopard chasing me all the while. As I ran, I tried to devise a plan to get us out of this mess. I couldn’t think of anything. Luckily, George muttered, ‘Trap… cave...’, still in his sleep. Looking around, I spotted a large rock nearby. I decided to take action. Putting George down, I grabbed a stick and shoved it into the leopard’s mouth. While it was taken by surprise, I gave it a push. It fell into the cave we had slept in not so long ago. I then rolled the rock across the entrance. The leopard was trapped. I collapsed, finally realizing how tired I was. George chose to woke at that moment. ‘Huh? What did I miss? Was it the challenge?’ I began to tell him the whole story. He hushed me and cheered. ‘Excellent! Now I can take you back to the master!’ He squawked and a swirling sand vortex appeared. I was going to question him further, but I thought of the letter. Everything now made sense. George probably noticed me thinking because he beamed and said, ‘Figured it out? Sir Geoffrey chose you to become a Desert Survivor. You just passed the test! You’re going to be… no I shouldn’t say! I’ll just say you’ll be having fun in no time. Care to join us?’ I grinned at him and answered, ‘Looks like this winter just got less boring!’ I took his wing, and we jumped through the vortex together.

New Tales of the Gobi Desert Beacon Hill School, Rachael Adams, Fiction: Group 2

y name’s Emmalia Johnson. I was born to a rich family in Toronto, Canada and I’ve been on several vacations, goodness knows how many. One summer, my family and I were off in the Gobi Desert, and I was having a lot of fun… until the end of the first week. MAfter the first week, my mom, dad, and I were off having fun on our camels. Mine was Flary, because it kept flaring its nostrils. But anyway, we were just riding around near an oasis when Flary suddenly went berserk whilst I was still on his back. He ran off, about a mile from where we were last. All else I remember about that day was falling off Flary head-first, plummeting off the camel then blacking out. I woke up on a bed of straw, trying to figure out where I was, when a boy with a bright smile popped up in front of me. “Sain baina uu!” “Excuse me?” He looked at me strangely, and brightened again. “Oh, you no speak Mongolian! I is Osake of Katukanu Village!” I nodded my head slowly, trying to adjust. I’m in the Gobi Desert, I thought. Without my family or anyone I know. As Osake left the room, a small nagging voice in the back of my head said ‘There’s a treasure here! You may not leave with them physically, but they will always be with you mentally! Hunt the town, and you will find it!’ I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and hesitantly walked out of the room I was in. An old woman greeted me, smiling warmly. She said in perfectly fluent English, “Hello, m’sweet. What’s your name, and how’d you get here, love?” My mouth almost fell out of my jaws. “Y..so..Someone here speaks English? I thought everyone spoke Mongolian!” “Nay, dear. I too speak Mongolian, but I am traditionally English. A lot of people speak English, due to my tutoring. I decided to stay whilst trekking the Gobi. And now I have lived to as old an age I am now. So how did you get here? You seem too young to explore the Gobi alone.” “I’m Emmalia, though everyone calls me Emma. And how’d I get here? Well…” I explained my story, with the part about the annoying little voice, though I still have no idea why. As we talked, other villagers gathered around us, wondering what we were saying. She smiled sympathetically, and said something I really didn’t understand: Your life from here is all your choice. Whether you choose to follow your instructions, it is up to you. I flinched slightly, having no idea what to do. Then the little voice screamed, ‘Go on and find out something! Your treasure waits for you!’ I winced and stood up, brushing myself off, and walked out in the sunshine of the Gobi, everyone’s gazes following my every step. I saw a couple of girls around my age and walked towards them. I tapped the first one on the shoulder, and she whirled around and looked at me with a surprisingly icy gaze. She softened a little, and I introduced myself as Emma again. She responded, “Sorry. I thought you were one of those annoying village boys. Anyway, I’m Melissa and this is Sandy.” Melissa gestured to the shy, timid girl standing to her right. Sandy gave me a small wave and a shy smile. I asked, “So, have you seen or heard of any ancient treasures around here?” The voice screamed, ‘NOOOOO! IT’S TOO DIRECT!’ I raised my eyebrows, as Melissa creased her brow and looked deep in thought. “No.” She then brightened at looked at me directly in the eyes. “Are you a treasure hunter? We could be a trio! Sandy’s an expert on maps, plus she’s a genius. When I was younger, my dad taught me loads about ancient treasures so I might come in handy. And you, it’s your quest! So we’d be the perfecto trio!” Sandy smiled hopefully and asked, “How are you here, Emma? It seems you aren’t the type for archaeology.” “Well… my camel went berserk whilst I was with my family, and someone found and brought me here.” Melissa grinned. “That happens a lot here with camels.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s quite obvious, Mels.” “Now, we have no time to waste! The sandstorm season is due in five days, we must hurry!” Our trio ran to search corners of the village, looking for clues. About 15 minutes later, we heard Sandy cry out. “Look! Over here, there’s a map!” Melissa was first over, helping Sandy yank a torn, crinkled piece of rolled-up paper out of the side of a falling- down ger. I picked up a curved piece of metal, and used it to pull a few bricks out of the way, so the paper fell at our feet. Melissa snatched it up and uncurled the piece of paper. It had yellowed, been dampened, and torn over the years in that ger’s side. I looked closely at it, but I knew better, my father being an archaeologist, I could easily identify that the map was fake. I sighed and explained to the girls that the map was a fake. Melancholy and disappointed, we walked away for the night. We searched a lot, dawn till dusk, but we found no treasure. 5 days into our adventure, I found my cell, hesitantly tapped it, and to my joy it started up. To my surprise, I actually found signal and dialled home immediately. As usual, the housemaid Bianca picked up the phone, I had a quick chat with her and in 3 hours a helicopter came hovering above the tiny village of Katukanu. After saying my goodbyes, I got in, prepared for home. Only now do I understand what the voice meant. I didn’t leave with any real-gold treasure, but Sandy and Melissa’s friendships remain treasured in my heart. Hey, friendships are treasures too! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Beacon Hill School, Felcia Fong, Fiction: Group 2

egend has it that every 1000 years a child was born, with wisdom, strength and power. But no-one knows who the child is! But what the people didn’t know, was that one child has managed to survive. The child was now 1000 years old and was living in the depths of the Gobi Desert was given the most important job of history by intelves, tiny little Linvisible creatures who were servants of the person who discovered this legend, she had to choose the child. Azalea was the chosen girl, today was her 10th birthday and she was having a lovely day with her sister Eliza when suddenly both of them fell down a gigantic hole in the floor, the next thing they knew they were on a cloud in the sky and were falling down again. The sisters were petrified and kept shrieking” Argh! Save us god!” as they went crashing down. When they woke up after they fainted, all they saw was sand, little did they know that this was a test for both of them to see if they had what it took to rule everything living in the depths of the Gobi Desert. Of course, Azalea being more active and wild and fearless didn’t bother to pace up and down like Eliza thinking of an idea, but nor did she panic. She did something no-one knew she could do, she started praying with her legs crossed and eyes closed, while Eliza stared at her gob-smacked. “I never knew you could do that!” exclaimed Eliza not quite afterwards and interrupted Azalea’s praying and she was lucky Azalea wasn’t mad but was shaking with excitement. As Azalea stumbled up she told Eliza that god told them that they needed wisdom to find a way out. But as soon as Azalea finished she started exclaiming”How are we supposed to find a way out? There is no out! We’re in the middle of nowhere and we haven’t even got a car or any single kind of transport!” That’s when Eliza came in helpful, she quickly switched to her nerdy though know-it-all voice and started explaining all about the Gobi Desert and the Legend but was stopped right afterwards by Azalea’s now curious and chatty voice “So… you’re saying that we are in a place called the Gobi Desert and that there’s a legend which… wait a minute, I thought no child has ever survived!” “There is a rather rare legend that one has survived and is living in the depths of um here, Gobi Desert” replied Eliza rather chockingly “So there’s a rare legend that one child who is probably like 999yrs old now is living right under our foot?!You’re kidding me” teased Azalea disbelievingly “Uh huh” nodded Eliza. Soon, their hunger started attacking, luckily before they fell into the hole they went to the grocery store and the supermarket and had enough food for 3 days. After they attacked their food, they found a comfy place to sleep and drifted off, while Eliza slept peacefully without a dream, Azalea dreamt that they had found a way out in the middle of the Gobi Desert, which was to the west of where they were sleeping, there was a large hole and they down they dropped into the hole and appeared in the house, she was very happy but of course was frustrated to find that it was a dream when she woke up. As Azalea told Eliza her dream while breakfasting, Eliza listened thoughtfully and said “You know, we might as well go to the middle of the Gobi Desert and just see. Since we haven’t got a better plan” Azalea thought for a couple of seconds, then responded slowly as if still thinking”Yeah, we could, but where is the middle?” “You said it was to the west right?” asked Eliza, Azalea nodded while fidgeting excitedly “Then let’s go!” both of them exclaimed together and started laughing merrily. They walked and walked towards the west until they started to get thirsty, hungry and tired, luckily there was a tree right in front of them which they quickly rushed to and dozed for a couple of days without doing any daily things! When they woke up, Azalea checked her watch and shrieked “How come it is already the 23rd of July? I thought it was only my birthday the day before yesterday!” “Um, apparently I think we slept for 3 days…” replied Eliza drowsily but snapped awake straight after she said that and freaked out along with Azalea and started shouting “WHAT?!” and both of them fainted for 10 seconds but bounced up right afterwards realizing the more time they wasted, the more time would take them to get out. Pretty soon, they saw a huge hole in the ground which was “exactly like the one in my dream” according to Azalea which probably meant that they were in the middle but the problem was that there were 2 holes which were exactly the same as each other. The sisters figured out one would probably take them home but the other remained unknown. The sisters had to make a choice, they either had to split up and go down the different holes or they could risk it and choose to stay together and try to figure out which hole led them home. They chose to stay together and try to choose the right hole, it took 2 hours but Azalea managed to convince Eliza that the one on the left was right. They went down and they appeared right outside the front door of their house and their mother Kate opened the door and said”What took you so long and where are the groceries? Anyway…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” It turned out that where they went, the time there would stop the real world’s time so it was like no days have passed. So far, their adventures still remain unknown. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Beacon Hill School, Tung Yi Lai, Fiction: Group 2

he rage for revenge is what in my mind, “ Everyone I love have left me behind, Darkness in light is what I see, Is that truly my destiny?” TI perched on a large sand dune and overlooked mournfully at the polluted land of the Gobi Desert where digging machines were mining coal. The biggest one rumbled as it burst putrid smoke into the air. I glanced at the yurts dotted the south and sighed. We are the Spirit Foxes whose existence is a mystery. After rescuing a nomad chief by our miraculous magical powers thousands years ago, we became the mythical canines in stories and songs within the nomadic tribes. All Spirit Foxes had ghostly fur with color ranges from red to pale orange, a snow white belly and black ear tips. We welcomed all peaceful and kind animals to share our Forest of Eternity, but any trouble-makers who tried to meddle with us never returned. With the whole pack together, we had the tremendous power to nourish an ideal habitat for creatures on the Earth. My name is... Well, I have forgotten my own name, as no one has called me for centuries. Every spare second I had, I desperately sought for any clues of my pack: paw prints on the sand, scents in the wind, but every attempt was in vain. Every night I was haunted with the same dream: my pack was shrieking for rescue. They were sliding down hopelessly to the steaming lava but my paws never reached them. Before they touched the lava, I burst awake with my heart pounding. I still remembered the peaceful days like it was yesterday when I was playing with my pack in the forest with the fresh air of nature. The spring-green leaves always fluttered on our snouts like butterflies. That was our life until our catastrophe approached... I would never forget that terrible night, while a cursed comet streaked towards the north, my pack was panicking with the trembling ground. Smoky ash and lava bombs were spraying from Mount Gobi like fireworks but no one enjoyed such an evil scene. All I could see was nothing but dunes of soot and ash. As the flaring stones tore through the darkening sky, I faintly heard the cries and yelps of terror but the wails were fading. It tore me into pieces to feel my pack was leaving me, and I would never see them again. I was swift enough to dodge the falling rocks, until it ended with deadly silence except my own panicked breathing and the hissing of fire. At dawn, the inside of my body, the very middle of my soul, felt drained of spirit bolts. In spite of being abandoned by the Sun Spirit, I howled to the sun to resurrect my pack that were crushed by the blows of the rocks. I screeched in anger, calling and calling to the smoke but my prayers unanswered. I would never trust him again, even in our greatest need of help. I closed my eyes and I imagined myself dashing toward the sun to take revenge for my pack. I focused on my magic to summon blue fire, touched at the ash and soot that coated the ground with my paws. The icy flame spread across the debris around me, and my magic controlled everything on the ground. I shouted at the glowing blazes, “I will command by the soul sparks of the Spirit Foxes to recreate our home with plenty of food and water! The habitat I wish for is for the Spirit Foxes, to leave us a chance to proliferate!” The blazes paled slightly and shrank to tiny flickers. As a solitary fox, my magic was too weak to accomplish this grand project. I quickly decided to turn the ruins into a plainer place by my remaining magic. I hovered higher, then sent more magic into the ash with a frantic and loud cry. The dark specks brightened into sandy white, until it became dunes of sand and flat plains. I managed an oasis with saxaul trees and a small pond, that was the only beauty I could achieve. I felt exhausted, but I went on, sending weakening magic into the cooling black stones. I ordered all the floating ash back into the core of the Earth. At last, I transformed the rocks into cliffs and spikes of stone, until I had to let go and the black stones buried themselves deep into the sand. I knew the leftover spirit bolts would turn them into coal. The Sun Spirit returned to take revenge probably because my creation had angered him. Just then, I felt scorching hot, and I flew off to my den in the land that I named after the great eruption: The Gobi Desert. At daytime, I was wandering around the desert, hoping to meet a survivor. Every dusk, I was waiting at the oasis, wishing to see a lost one return. Centuries passed, my heart was shattered. I realized that it would be impossible to see any one of them again... The sky was darkening as I stared miserably down at the gigantic trucks growling off with full loads of coal. The stench from the smoke rising from the steaming pipes smothered my snout. I sneezed as the smoke crept up my nose and I blew it off with my left paw. I finally turned away and glided off, hidden by the darkness of night. I settled on the very edge of a cliff and glanced at my oasis, before the full moon rose into the sky. I gazed north and saw the cursed comet again. I could not hold my sorrow and kept howling at the moon, tears streaming down my snout. “My pack is lost forever in the flames, The fire holds doom as all the same, But even when their spirits are scorched away, I have no choice but to search in the fading grays.” New Tales of the Gobi Desert Beacon Hill School, Jaimie Lau, Fiction: Group 2

oodnight, Annette. Sweet dreams.” “ Eliza was exiting Annette’s room when Annette interrupted, “But what about my bedtime story?” “Um, are you tired, dear?” Eliza asked doggedly. G“No Mommy. Please, a short one?” Annette pleaded with her fingers crossed. She loved it when her mother read her stories. “Oh, alright honey.” Sighing, Eliza made her way to the book shelf, pulling out a thin volume. Walking back to Annette’s bed with the picture book, she sat down and began to read. “New Tales of the Gobi Desert. Once upon a time, there were two little puppies who lived posh and importantly. But one day, the two little puppies got whisked to the Gobi Desert. The little puppies, who was named Sparkle and Snowy, didn’t know how it happened, but all they knew was that they were in a sandy, dusty and plain area. They wondered around the desert until they found a very small animal - a jerboa. Tiny and mousey, these animals had powerful hind legs allowing them to jump as much as ten feet at a time. They also had a long tail that helps them maintain balance on the rocky landscape. To Sparkle and Snowy, the jerboa was puny. They laughed and jeered at it. “Who are you, little mousey?” Sparkle scoffed, unimpressed. “I am a jerboa. Although I am small—” “Yes, we know, you’re weak. We don’t need you to tell us that, we’re not that stupid.” Snowy interrupted rudely. “No I am not!” The jerboa started angrily, only to be cut across my Sparkle. “Oh, yes you are. There isn’t any trying to argue. It’s just the truth. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll be getting on our way. Move it.” Sparkle sniffed importantly. But before she could sweep him away, a majestic golden eagle came down from the sky and arranged itself before them. As fast as a blink of an eye, the jerboa darted behind the nearest clump of shrubs and out of sight. The eagle spoke in a soft, dangerous voice. “Did you see a jerboa? I thought I saw one talking to you just before our little meeting.” “N-n-no, um,” It was clear that Snowy didn’t know how to address the eagle without being eaten immediately. “Uh, sir.” She gulped. “No? Really. We shall see, canines.” The eagle took off. “Wow. He’s in a hurry. And why did you stick up for that little rat, the rascal, the tiny one who’s weak? Sparkle asked, looking disgusted. “Oh well—” “That tiny rodent is good-for-nothing, mischievous and useless. Don’t - and I mean don’t - ever side with it again. Okay?” Sparkle bossed, eyeing Snowy meaningfully. “Sorry Sparkle.” They trotted on until they reached a small sand dune. “Wow.” Snowy sighed. Sparkle nodded. Little did they know that the jerboa had been following them the whole time. It kept trying to pluck up its courage to thank them. As Snowy and Sparkle explored around the side of the sand dune which was curved in, the jerboa lingered around the other side, unsure what to do. He sighed heavily, which made Sparkle’s ears prick up. There was something else nearby, something small and mousey—the jerboa! Quicker than you could say “Sparkle”, Sparkle raced to the source of sound, skidding to a stop and glaring down at the jerboa threateningly. Snowy brought up the rear, panting. “And what do you think you’re doing, tiny mouse?” Sparkle yelped bullyingly. “Trying to spy on us?” The jerboa couldn’t answer. It was too close to crying. The back of his throat burned and he felt tears slowly spring up behind his eyes. He gulped as he fought to keep them back. “Are you the same midget whom we wasted two minutes of our lives talking to?” Sparkle screeched. She glanced at Snowy meaningfully, as though expecting her to laugh at her insult. Snowy didn’t though. She was speechless. As she gazed at the jerboa, he returned her gaze pleadingly. The hard shell of her inside-very-loving heart cracked open. Snowy felt it. Suddenly, her brain could release the dams that kept out the positive thoughts, and she began thinking very kindly. She also suddenly felt wide awake, as if she had woken from a trance. She glanced from the jerboa to Sparkle, then thought of all the unkind things that Sparkle had sneered about. Then a small, quiet voice at the back of her head piped up, the jerboa isn’t bad. Just shy. She made a decision quickly and disagreed, “Actually Sparkle, I think you’re wrong. The jerboa isn’t as bad as you think and I think the jerboa can be very useful in many situations, even though he’s small. Maybe, erm,” she hesitated uncertainly and plunged on, “Maybe you should give him another chance?” The jerboa held his breath. Would Sparkle agree? Sparkle looked at the sandy ground. To stall for time, she pretended to dust sand off her paws. She thought hard. If even Snowy was saying that this jerboa was good, maybe…… Snowy spoke softly, lightly and encouragingly. “Sparkle, I’m sticking up for him because I think that that is the right thing to do. Will you choose to do the same too?” Sparkle sniffed. She looked up to find the jerboa gazing at her beseechingly. The corners of her heart melted. Then she understood. The jerboa had a loving heart. He had come to try and thank them. He was trying to be friendly. She nodded. She managed to sob, “Sorry.” to the jerboa, who smiled and hugged her paw. From then on, Sparkle was kind and considerate, and she never criticized anyone ever again.” Eliza closed the book and turned to Annette, who was looking confused. “What’s the moral, Mommy?” She asked. Eliza replied, “The moral is to appreciate people for who they are, sweetheart. Now, goodnight.” Eliza left Annette’s room feeling like she had learned something too. Always be kind. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Beacon Hill School, Kenton So, Fiction: Group 2

ascal Ryan was a 9 year-old boy. He did not like to go to school because he hated obeying rules. He did not like to do homework because he felt that it made his head hurt. He always fought with his brother for trivial things and blamed his mother for making his food so plain. He liked to tease animals and he was never patient or considerate to anyone. ROne day, Rascal Ryan was feeling lackadaisical and was watching a program on TV. It was about the Gobi Desert and the nomads living in it. It was so soporific that he dozed off... Suddenly he woke up. A boy rushed to greet him. “Welcome to my ger,” he said. “My name is Tan.” Tan was a skinny 10 year-old boy who was very considerate and sensible. “Hey you, where am I?” asked Rascal Ryan rudely. “This is my home in the Gobi Desert. Are you hungry?” asked Tan nicely. Tan gave him a bun and some water. Rascal Ryan took a bite and he spat it out. “I don’t like plain tasting food,” said Ryan. Tan took Rascal Ryan out to the open desert land. Ryan felt hot and sticky all over his body. He also felt his feet sinking into the soft, white sand. Then he looked around. All he saw was rocks, sand, desert animals, and a few patches of drought grass. He was very amazed. He had never experienced being in this kind of environment before. Tan interrupted his thoughts by saying, “Look! Here are my goats and camels. They are my friends. I like to play with them everyday and I take good care of them. They are the treasures of my family.” Suddenly, Ryan started picking up small rocks and handfuls of sand and throwing them at the animals. He found it fun seeing the animals running away and making noises. Tan stopped him and told him that he has to respect the animals. The goats gave them milk and meat, the camels gave them a ride in the desert. Ryan realized he should stop hurting the animals because the animals did not like rocks and handfuls of sand being hurled at them and they are vary helpful to humans. Soon it was dark. Rascal Ryan and Tan went back to the ger. “Ryan, here are my parents and my brothers and sisters. We all live in this yurt. Let’s have supper together,” said Tan. Rascal Ryan saw that the children all helped out in preparing the noodles and the atmosphere of the family was very warm. Tan passed Ryan the food. Ryan was so hungry that he found the hot goat’s milk, the scarce piece of mutton, and the noodles very yummy. Tan’s family finished every bit of the food they had without wasting. After dinner, Tan’s parents invited Ryan to do a Mongolian dance. Although there was no heavy metal music, they had a very good time together. Afterwards, Tan showed Ryan the bed. Tan’s family were all sleeping on a small hard mattress. Ryan thought of his own cozy bed in his own private bedroom. Tan said, “We just have to be patient and be considerate to each other because we are sharing the same ger.” Ryan asked,” Do you go to school, Tan?” “No, I don’t. My parents cannot afford to send us to the city for schooling. I learnt how to raise the animals from my parents.” Ryan was astonished by the differences between Tan and himself. Ring ring ring…. Rascal Ryan woke up and found himself on the sofa in the living room the following morning. Mom hurried to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Ryan greeted his mom and gave her a hug. He finished everything that was prepared by his mom without wasting, even though it was a little plain. Then he packed his school bag and waited for the school bus patiently. He did not dare to throw rocks at the neighbor’s dog anymore. He also changed his attitude at school and respected everyone. He remembered everything that Tan had taught him. It was indubitable that Tan had made Ryan change his perspective of life. EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD: The Great Stairs of the Gobi Desert Bradbury School, Jay Hugh Ahn, Fiction: Group 2

Chapter 1 - Lucan

In a tribe somewhere in the Gobi Desert, I lived with my father Chuluun. I was named Lucan after my grandfather. I was not tall for my age and was rather wiry. My dad was a great leader and he tells me my eyes and laughter remind him of mom and that they cheered everyone up in this dry and cold desert. “Daddy, do we really have to move again?” I cried in a whiny voice. “Son, you will understand when you grow up.” My dad replied in a calming voice. “But why tomorrow? I just planted my saxaul! I want to see it sprout!” I shouted, whining again. “It’s a matter of survival! Now stop whining and will you help me?” My dad was losing patience. “How is moving around every time from here and there for our survival?” I cried. “It’s the grass Lucan! Without the grass, the lambs can’t live. If lambs don’t live, we do not either. We need to find more grass.” “Can’t we grow the grass?” I asked. “To grow grass, we need water. Look over those tall mountains over there. Do you see the dark clouds?” As I looked far ahead, I understood that under those clouds there would be rain and noticed the Himalayan mountains stopped the clouds from passing. It was then that I knew something had to be done.

Chapter 2 - The Meeting

I stared into our tribe chief’s eyes, not letting him turn look away. The chief sighed and said “Fine! Son of Chuluun, your wish will be granted. It is brave of you to try to cut the tip of the mountain to let the clouds pass. Our future generations will have rain. With enough rain, we will not have to move all the time and we will build a great city.”

Chapter 3 - The Adventure

I quickly packed up and was ready to go. I took off with my takhi, Jade Eye. I knew I was not alone in this adventure. My mom would be watching me from the heavens above and my father watching over me with his kind soul. I was not going to let them down. After praying, I looked around. It was a heart stopping sight. The desert was a breathtaking. It was an ocean of yellow, peach and beige waves all paralysed. The trees were coral, small lizards and mice were fish, oxen and takhi were sharks and big fish. I saw the beauty and the spirit of this desert. I had to look for a place to rest before nightfall. I found an abandoned den. I decided to rest there for the night. The den was just big enough for me. It was cozy instead of cold which was unusual for a small den. Chapter 4 - Bear!

I woke with cramps and pains. I was bleeding and had purple bruises everywhere. Feeling blank and dazed all I can see is a brown wall. I tapped on the wall thinking it was a brown ger, a type of hut. Suddenly part of the ger swung at me. I tried to dodge but was hit in the stomach. I found out why I was in pain, cuts and bruises. I was thinking to myself can this living nightmare get worse? The pain was unbelievable. The ger was really a huge bear. The next thing I knew I was chased by a bear and her two cubs, hot on my tail. I finally lost them by running into some wild onions fields and sweet scented bindweed. I hid behind a sand dune. If she can’t smell me and find me, I thought. When I thought I was safe, I went to look for saxaul plants to start a fire. The fire danced to the wind in the moonlight.

Chapter 5 - The Himalayas and the eighth wonder

I woke up feeling a warm touch. I could sense I was in a real ger now. I was surprised to see my dad. I think I slept for very long. I ran away from the bear and arrived at the Himalayas. It was too tall so I looked around and found a rectangular stone block. I picked it up and set it on the foot of the mountain. Everyone nodded in unison and helped build steps to the peaks.

Chapter 6 - Year 3014

A thousand years later, people from all over the world come visit the Great Stairs. Scientists still do not know what the symbols on the first block means. I secretly wrote ‘Lucan.’ But they know that there was a hero that gave life to the vast lands of the Gobi. My decedents look at this creation that is longer in height than the famous Great Wall. It is known as the stairs leading to the heavens. People find it amazing that someone my age could have built this and cut the tip off the Himalayas so and rain is aplenty in the Gobi desert. Now the great stairs attract more tourists than any of the other Seven Wonders of the World. The Gobi Scorpion Bradbury School, Zahabiyah Boty, Fiction: Group 2

ne day I am walking on the beach and when I go near the sea I suddenly fall into a big hole. When I reach the bottom I scream AHHHH!!! AHHH!!! And as I look around I wonder where am I?? After a few seconds I get up shivering and frightened. I start to walk and after a very long time I reach near a group of people. Suddenly Othere is a loud THUMP!!! I look up scarily and see the biggest scorpion in the world. I am about to faint. When I look around all the people are shivering and praying. After sometime the scorpion slides away. Later I walk towards a tall woman standing nearby and ask her ‘Where am I?’ and she tells me that this is the land of Gobi she then asks me who I am. ‘Oh No!! I have entered through a time portal. I am Marie and I live in Hong Kong. I don’t want to be here and I want to go back.’ She tells me there is no way to go back as a large scorpion rules this place and the only way out is hidden in the map in his cave and that is closed. I gasp…`Oh No!! I need to go back’. The lady says that she knows someone who may be able to help me. He is Qadan the magician and his animal friends and they are working on a plan. The lady also tells me that the scorpion was Qadan’s pet and he grew evil because one day, while Qadan was practicing magic with his wand, he accidently hit the scorpion’s tail and that’s how it became large and evil. She tells me that she will inform Qadan about me and asks if I would like to stay until they find a way to get out. I agree with her. She takes me to a round felt covered yurt. There I notice many different types of plants around. I learn these plants are found in Gobi. They are Saltwort, Wild onions, Tamarix and the Saxual plant. After sometime she takes me to her yurt to eat dinner. For dinner we have some meat and wild onions. Then I go back to my yurt to rest. Next day early in the morning, there is a sudden gush of wind and Qadan appears with a brown bear, camel and a golden eagle. ‘Hello, Marie I have thought of a plan. When the scorpion leaves his cave we will quietly sneak in and look for the map that will tell us where the time portal to leave this place is hidden. Lets go right now!! ‘ While we are searching, the scorpion suddenly appears and attacks us and we are both trapped in an underground passage of the cave. Next day the lady realizes that we have gone missing and she finally comes looking for us in the Scorpion Cave. Late in the night when the scorpion is sleeping the three of us start looking for the map. We see a brown map with some weapons beside it. We open it and it was the map we are looking for. Suddenly the scorpion wakes up. The lady and I quickly grab a weapon but Qadan sees his lost wand in the weapons and picks it up. The scorpion sees us and moves ahead to catch us. But then Qadan waves his wand and says some magic spell and the scorpion becomes small again. We all jump out of excitement and start celebrating, when I hear someone screaming WAKE UP!! I jump up and realize this was just a dream. The Mining Problem Bradbury School, Chloe Byrom, Fiction: Group 2

t was a quiet morning in the Gobi desert. The nomads were tending their animals when a loud drilling sound filled the surroundings, surprised, the nomads called for their elder Zigsa. Zigsa sighed sadly and said “That sound is people mining for gold and silver. In the past my tribe had to move a lot because of them.” IOne of the nomads shouted out loud “My animals are escaping because they are so frightened! “I can’t stand another morning like this!” “Silence!” ordered Zigsa. “We will move tonight at dawn is that clear?” (Meanwhile in the mining station) “Boss?” “The nomads want us to stop mining for gold and silver.” “Tell them that we can’t because this is our only job. I want to help them but we can’t understand?” “Yes boss” (At dawn) “Is everyone ready? Good let’s go then.” The nomads rode sadly away from their campsite. Finally the nomads found a good spot, they then made their tents. The morning was peaceful when there was another anonymous drilling sound. Annoyed by the sound, the nomads rushed out their tents and scanned the area and sure enough there was another big mining site. They rushed forward to have a quick look but a cloud of smog blocked their way one of the nomads coughed and shouted “Come on everybody run back to the camp!” And there they found Zigsa with a face like thunder. “I was worried sick about you, you could have got lost!” scolded Zigsa. Everyone mumbled an apology looking sorry and abashed. Then before Zigsa could accept their apologies, a man in a white lab coat leading a worn out camel walked by then stopped, Zigsa greeted the man then the man asked “Do you know where James mining site is?” Zigsa suddenly turned serious and said “So you are a miner I should have known before.” “No I’m going there to examine their work.” “The mining sites are endangering us and we can’t continue moving all the time!” “We should better make a stop to this,” said the man gravely. “By the way my name is Tom.” (Tom visits the mining site) “Hello can I see your boss please?” asked Tom. “Sure he’s just in his office at the moment.” “Thank you!” (At the office) “Hello Tom I was expecting you!” “Hello James I have something important to discuss, the nomads are unhappy with your work. Your mining is polluting the desert, I know it’s your only job but you have to think about other people. Why don’t you move your mining to the southern parts of the Gobi and the nomads can enjoy the other parts of the desert! Do you agree?” asked Tom. James hesitated then finally agreed. Delighted Tom ran to the nomads camp site and told them the exciting news, the nomads cheered and praised Tom. Shortlisted

Keep Calm and Stay Alive in the Gobi Desert Bradbury School, Anjali Darling, 9

ello, my name is Thomas, are you ready to read this terrifying story of the way I survived in the freezing cold Gobi Desert? It shows what I had to go through, how all of my hope nearly vanished when I trudged through the enormous mountains covered in fluffy snow, which blocked out the distance as far as the eye could see. HThis could possibly be one of the best days of my life, I was going camping all the way to the Gobi Desert. With my family and my best friends, Harry and Ethan. So, I felt very excited but worried after all it was the Gobi Desert, miles and miles of empty spaces. The desert was surprisingly beautiful with the mountains sparkling away as if nothing bad ever happens. Anyway PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE let me explain all of that in the morning. G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T! So about what happened yesterday, we flew into the desert then exited the plane with a parachute. When we were in the air it felt as if there were billions of icicles blowing in my face. It was a freezing cold day. We then set up our tents. I was sharing with my two friends. Anyway, I wanted to explore so I sneaked off all alone. The sun was shining onto the glittering snow it made my eyes ache and squint in pain. The wind was starting to pick up and made loud howling noises. I started to walk through the snow-covered valleys. I could not hold my excitement I started running into the distance making loud crunching sounds as I ran. I put my hand over my eyes and peered in to the distance behind me. That was when I stopped and gasped. The camp I was staying at was out of site. I decided that I would retrace my footsteps and that should lead me back to the camp. But when I looked down there was no trace of my footsteps. The wind must have blown them away. Deep inside my body I screamed a loud piercing scream, this could not be happening. I decided to climb up a towering naked tree and see if I could see the camp. Slowly I climbed up the tree but half way through I collapsed sobbing until my stomach hurt in panic. This was unbelievable! Could I really make it to the camp before nightfall? Lots of doubts were racing in my mind. As I walked the sound of the animals sounded like they were laughing and teasing, it was dreadful. Night was falling I needed to hurry I definitely did not want to spend the night alone with all the bugs. Though, I did not know about all the other darker creatures that lie in this desert. I shuddered at the thought. Soon it was night I slowly curled up into a ball beside a big boulder and rocked like a baby, sang a little lullaby. My fingers were numb in pain it felt like -30ºC until I finally fell asleep. As I woke up this morning the moment my eyes opened I jumped and was terrified and wondered were on earth I was. As yesterday came flooding back to me tears started springing into my eyes all of it happened to quickly. I slowly got up and started walking. I stood by a tree gasping for breath, but hold on what was that a brown dot in the distance. I started running towards it. “Wait, help, PLEASE!” I shouted. By the time I saw what it was it was too late. The bear started bounding towards me. I turned and started to run though deep down I new I would not outrun the beast. I heard the bear skid to a halt I turned to see what was happening but the moment I did I knew it was a big mistake. The bear was growling loudly he was breathing in my face the warm breath hit me like a punch. A paw came flying towards my chest. His long, sharp, curved talon like claws scraped me, my coat was shredded and feathers came flying out. I found myself catapulting through the sky, I landed on the snow with a very painful thud. My body froze with fear. The beast prowled over my head where it growled and nudged me. I played dead. The bear was satisfied that I was no longer a threat he grunted and slowly staggered away. After the attack I was determined to get to safety I was also a lot more aware of my surroundings and I wasn’t in my own little world anymore. My mind was filled with fear I did not want to get eaten by the beast. That was when I saw the tree and realized it was my only hope. I ran straight to the tree and lunged up desperate to grab a branch. I failed, one time, two times, three, four, my mind filled with despair I tried one last time. Finally, I made it I swung myself up and repeated the process. I reached the top of the tree just before I collapsed. My eyes were slowly closing but then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I span around anxious to have a look it seemed to be a fire in the distance. As I looked closer I saw that there were tents and people that is when it hit me this was my camp I groaned. What a reckless and self-absorbed boy I am! The Journey For The Root Bradbury School, Sarbani Kumar, Fiction: Group 2

ome on, come on!” exclaimed Mongi, a 16 year-old girl. She had a Mom, Two brothers “ and a sister. She was going to set off on a journey to the other side of the Gobi desert since her mother was very ill and only a special root, the root of the ephedra shrub was able to cure her. C“Here you go Ive packed everything” Gunai, Mongi’s older sister handed her a backpack that had everything she needed. “Thanks, bye Tamay! bye Kubo!” she charged out of the hut and set off on her Journey. It had been two days on her camel. She had survived with food and water, her sister packed but she was running low on it. “Yes! Finally, a village” She was relieved that she found a place where she could spend her ten million tügrik on supplies. “Excuse me” “Yes ma’am how may I help you?” asked the shopkeeper. He had brown hair, small eyes and he wore a black cloak with a dark blue shirt and black pants and his boots were strangely familiar. “How much for the food and water?” she asked “That would be…” he did a little calculation on his hand and said “150 tügrik” “Thats a bit much isn’t it?” Mongi whipped open her bag and took out the money. Then, a man as quick as a cheetah ran off with the money. “Thief, thief! He stole my money!” shouted Mongi with smoke shooting out of her ears. She tried running after him but she slipped and fell to the ground. Everybody chased after him then, a stranger caught up with him took the money away from him and handed it back to Mongi. “Excuse me are you alright?” he helped Mongi up “My name is Dhyri” He was a tall, heavy man with small eyes, long, black hair to the middle of his back and he dressed exactly the same as the thief “what’s your name and where are you from?” “My name is Mongi and I’m from Tikhtai village” she explained her story then looked around “umm…. does everybody dress exactly the same?” “Yes, unfortunately no other clothes are made.” “Oh! I see” she said tapping her chin in deep thought. “It seems like you have nowhere to stay? Would you like to stay at my hut? Me, my mum and my twin sister stay together.” “Thank you so much!” Mongi said jumping up and down. They walked to a unusually large hut and went inside. “Wow you have a big hut!” Mongi told Dhyri astounded. “Thanks, my mum stayed in this same hut when she was young that is why it is so big and strong we have gathered a lot of materials.” he explained, “mama! I bought somebody home!” An old woman walked through a small door. She was bending down and had a wooden stick she used for walking “hello, what brings you here?” They explained what had happened outside and where she was going. “Well did you know that the ephedra root is a very-very rare plant, you can only find it near the pit of sand dunes facing north. Lots of people have tried but only some have succeeded,” she explained to Mongi. “Thats weird! I was told by my mother that it was facing southeast,” Mongi asked looking confused. “Ah! thats where you’re wrong, it used to grow there but since people found it already it has been taken and plucked out because of selfishness as it also makes you look young,” she told Mongi “Mama! I’m home!” Then she noticed Mongi “hey! wasn’t I the one that lent you the water?” “ah yes! thank you I was very thirsty well I must get going then I don’t have much time until the sun sets I want to get the root so I can sleep near the sand dunes” she said her farewell and climbed on to her camel and went north “I think I can see the sand dunes!” It was starting to get dark but Mongi was almost there just a few more minutes and she would be plucking out the shrub. “wow! it looks so beautiful and precious I can’t believe that people could be so selfish and pluck it out so they can look young” she said when she reached the shrub. It was big and bushy and it had berries growing on it. Mongi examined them and then she found out they were edible she picked lots and lots of them “this could be our dinner what do you say Mugo” she held the berries in her hand and fed them to her camel then she had her berries “yum!” “They really are aren’t they?” Mongi whipped around “Tamay?!” It was her brother, he was six years older than Mongi “mama told me I should follow you to make sure you were okay in fact, I was the thief I was just disguised but I couldn’t find any different boots” “So that’s why the boots looked familiar…. thanks anyway. Do you have any water?” Mongi had been dizzy for the past few hours since she hadn’t had water. “Sure!” he handed her a big fat bottle “Good news we’re going on the train back home!” “But tamay we only have ten million tügrik and thats for one ticket we need two” “No we don’t I’ve got the tickets right here our ride is tomorrow early morning so lets get a bit of shut eye” They set up the tent and drifted off to sleep. The next day was a very sunny day unlike the day before and they had gotten up they went to the station climbed the train and got home in about an hour “gunai! Kubo! We’re home” “So you’re back we’ve prepared the ingredients for the soup” kubo said “Here you go” Tamay handed the root to Kubo he dropped the root into a soup and fed it to his mother “I feel better..” The Gobi Desert Bradbury School, Thierry Lau, Fiction: Group 2

he dusty sands of the Gobi Desert drifted past the camels as they trotted along together. The riders, a family, rode on the camels. The father was called John, and the mother was called Jane. They both had dark stringy hair. John wore a plain white overall and a pair of black trousers. Jane had a striped blue and brown apron, which matched her dress as Twell. Today her hair was tied back in a bun. Their son, a mischievous ten year old boy, rode on the last camel. Unlike his parents, he had dark olive skin and smooth blonde hair. His name was Jack. Jack heard a loud whistle from the direction of the sunset. He cocked his head to his left and stared at the tiny yellow ring of fire on the horizon. He thought he saw a flicker of yellow in the light. “Mama! Papa!” he called, “Look over there!” He pointed to his left. His parents both climbed off their camels. John squinted carefully in the direction that Jack had pointed to. Suddenly he turned and shouted: “Go! It’s a sandstorm!” Jack’s parents hurled themselves onto their camels and took off. They didn’t notice Jack going off towards the approaching wall of spinning sand. He sped forward, targeting the darkness in the sandstorm. But soon the camel was too scared and shook him off. Jack fell on the hard rocks of the desert and blacked out. He woke in the dark, smelling the scent of fresh herbs and grass. “Where am I?” he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He appeared to be on the ground of a cave, a room perhaps? “In my cave.” Answered an old and cracked voice. An old man covered with many wrinkles stepped out of the shadows. Jack questioned: “Where are my parents?” The old man’s face darkened. “I do not know.” He replied gravely. Jack stayed with the old man for many days, whose name was apparently Zhang. Soon after a week, Jack began to feel homesick and said he needed to go and find his parents. Before Jack left, the old man gave him a golden ring encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The old man said: “Please do me a favor. Before you go off and look for your parents, think of the year 1816. Then press this diamond button here and you will go back in time to 1816. After that, find the Coronation Hall and steal the crown when the evil King Nar Yi will be crowned. Then return back and bury the crown and ring very deep.” After a lot of thinking, Jack finally agreed and slipped on the ring. He left Zhang’s dark cave, thought of the year 1816 and pressed the button. Instantly, the land spun around and became a blur. He felt dizzy and disorientated. Jack landed in a field of mud and peaceful sheep. He slumped over, only seeing stars. Then he closed his eyes for the second time that day. When Jack opened his eyes, he felt the sheep nuzzling him awake. They were skinny and looked poor – fed. They ran around him as if wanting food. He fished out the grass he had took from Zhang’s cave and fed it to the sheep. The sheep baaed at him gratefully. Jack ran out of the field and looked for the Coronation Hall. He sprinted there and fro, frantically searching everywhere. After a long and tiresome hour, he found it. The Coronation Hall was located south – east in the city. The hall was a monstrous wooden structure towering high above the cowering tiny houses. Its roof spiraled up, creating the genuine look of a drill. Jack entered and spotted a sign reading: CORONATION HALL OF QUPEN. Now you may be thinking what is Qupen? The answer is basically Gobi. Go in Chinese is Qu, and Bi in English is Pen. Jack found a staircase going upstairs and decided to have a look on the floor above. On the way, he whisked a long rope form a nearby stand and tied it into a lasso. As the coronation began, Jack looked around to make sure there was nobody, then spun the lasso around a few times. After spinning it, he then held the end of the lasso and threw the other end down, making it grasp the crown. The crowd at the coronation gasped as the crown was lifted up, never to be seen again. Jack threw accurately because he had been forced by his father. Whenever he practiced, he would moan and complain. Jack’s father had smiled, as if he knew this day would come soon. Jack held the crown tightly and tried to cover his ears at the same time as the alarm signal was alerted. He lassoed the railing and threw the other end down into the streets. Jack climbed down the swaying rope, swung with all his might and kicked off the building. Jack landed on a patrol’s helmet. The soldier swung dizzily, then fell down, knocked out cold. Jack weaved his way through the streets and returned to the field again. Jack saw the shimmering red circle portal standing majestically before him. He leaped through the fiery circle. Immediately, the noises from the city died down and he was thrown forward through time to the year 2010. Jack returned to Zhang’s cave and told him the story. After Zhang had heard the story, he said: “I have some good news for you. Your parents are at the back of the cave.” As soon as Jack heard this, he leaped up with joy and hurried to the back of the cave. He found his parents there and they all returned home. Jack dug a deep hole in the soil of their garden and gently placed the crown and ring in the hole. Then he covered it up and went to his room. After many years, the crown and the ring withered away. An Expedition Around the Universe A Tale of the Gobi Desert Clearwater Bay School, Amelia Newhouse, Fiction: Group 2

2:56 20th July 1969,

My feet stammered onto the rocky surface. As I manage to shift my legs around, I discovered the strange wonders of this other planet. The message hadn’t really registered with me that I was on the moon! ‘Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.’ It had a beautiful ring to it. I would be a millionaire or a superstar; the whole world will know my name. I would be taught in schools and when I die the whole of my home planet will be in mourning. I peered at the glittering stars above, they seemed so magical from down here but they are just deadly balls of fire. The grey jagged landscape fitted delightfully well with the shadowy lid that covered me. The moon felt so free compared to the Earth that super-glued you to the ground. This gorgeous picture-book setting was so welcoming it almost felt like home. I had to have a copy of this on paper; I snapped five photos that took up all of the space on my camera. What other things are up there waiting to be discovered? Are there any other things at all? Is there an end to mind-boggling space? I hadn’t notice but my partner, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin; Jr. had experienced his first step on the moon as well. He’s amazing he is, old Buzz. He is my captain, my hero, and a truly great friend. I wanted him to be the first on the moon but I couldn’t help it. I was the closest to the door and had to exit first. When he called to me ten minutes later I wasn’t so impressed. “Hey, having a nice time, Neil? Sorry to ruin it but, we’ve only got enough oxygen to make it back to Earth if we leave now. You want to make it back right?” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I wanted to run away and live on the moon forever, and never return to the Earth. Buzz was right though I do want to survive. I clambered back into the capsule two minutes later. I took my last glimpse of lunar surface. It was glorious!

4:22 14th November 1969,

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are my absolute heroes. OK I am a thirty two year old man but really, I feel I have spent my whole life admiring the first two people on the moon. I will now join them on the list. Myself, Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. and my partner, Alan LaVern Bean are going to be the third and fourth people on the brilliant new planet that we humans have discovered. The moon. Although I was safe in the hands of the amazing Apollo 12’s rocket, I had a nervous shadow always following close behind me. I was that kind of person who worried about everything. We had had a rough start when a lightning bolt hit us on the nose of the spaceship, but by the fine work of Alan we were still speeding to the moon with only a few minor injuries. Two days later we arrived, I didn’t know at first because I was asleep in my sleeping bag and felt a rough jolt, I woke instantly. I worried that we might have crashed and awaited death. The joyful shouts from the front of the rocket confused me. “We’ve landed! Can’t wait ‘till we get out there.” Reported Bean. We’ve landed? Really? Grabbing Armstrong’s pictures I shot to the door. I could peer out the round foggy window. It looked exactly like the photos. We pulled with all of our might to open that door and we eventually did. I felt overjoyed as I wandered around this exquisite place. Bean came bouncing out with a thrilled expression that I could relate to. Our time was nearly up so I cast my eyes in the distance; I couldn’t have seen it could I? A Takhi? “Alan? Do you know what a Tak-“ I could not have finished, I froze like a wicked witch had turned me to stone. Only my brain was working, a snow leopard had flashed before our eyes. It had the kind of teeth that you see on Dracula; it had paper white fur with charcoal spots dotted around. The two colours clashed with his grey cloudy eyes that match with the rocks behind. His paws flopped forward on the unstable rocks below, it was truly terrifying. My first reaction was to run, and run I did. The ferocious, ghastly smelling beast was chasing us now. It bounced up but missed me by an inch or two. Though when it took a leap for the second time, it shred a colossal gap through my last hope to survive, my oxygen tank. I stood there flabbergasted at what had just happened. My legs stopped running, my eye stopped blinking, and soon my heart would stop beating. Anger struck every place in my body. I hate that leopard-cat-thing, I hate where I am, I hate that I wanted to risk my life to come here anyway. Now I will die, and Philadelphia and my family will be in mourning. I wanted a camera to be on me right this instant to say something to the world. I was losing air, I could do nothing but inhale! I was still alive, my heart still beating; somehow there was oxygen that I could breath, on Earth I took this stuff for granted. Only then did I really know where I was. My daughter and my wife came here with me on a summer holiday once. I was somewhere in the Gobi Desert. The Pocket Watch Clearwater Bay School, Amelia Vogelsang, Fiction: Group 2

lie in bed fingering my great-grandfather’s pocket watch, pondering over line and my name. Ryder. I am still teased about it, to try and help me feel better about it my grandfather told me that it means “horseman.” Even so, I am still irked at having a name that sounds like it should be a last name. II try to shake the memories off but they keep coming back. My grandfather on his death bed using his the last of his waning strength to hand over his pocket watch to me and then his funeral. Finally I manage to shake off the memories and concentrate on the pocket watch. On top it has a button I slowly press it and the pocket watch flips open. Inside I see a tiny map, a clock face and something engraved below. I reach under my bed and reach for my magnifying glass. I pull out a flashlight, “nope, that’s not it.” I feel around once more and retrieve my magnifying glass. I use it to read the engraved words; they read, “This time is of their time.” I ponder over the possible meaning of the words but they make no sense to me. Then I remember the tiny map. I bring my magnifying glass over to the map and recognise the . I close the pocket watch and turn it over. On my back I see the picture of a camel and the camel seems to have words engraved on one of its humps. Again through my magnifying glass I study the words. I hear loud whoosh and suddenly I realize that I am no longer in my bedroom but in what looks like a large circular tent. I am still in a daze when I am struck with a dreadful thought. It is just like the story in my favorite book “Worlds Within” by Margaret and Steve Larson! It’s about a boy who finds a book; and then he focuses on the pictures and he is transported to the place in the picture. I frantically try to remember how Toby got back. “Oh right, looking at the picture again brought him back, let me try that. I stare intently at the map but I hear no whoosh and I am still in the tent. I decide to explore and hopefully I will find something useful. I find a cloth, a full water bottle, some dried meat and a glowing purple stone. I dump everything I find inside the cloth sack that hangs from the door. Cautiously I open the door when suddenly it whips back and hits me. Howling sand swirls inside. Then it occurs to me, “Could this tent be in the Gobi Desert?” With all my strength I shut the door. I pull the cloth from the bag and cover my eyes and nose. Then I go to the door again, open it and head out of the ger. I carry on in the storm when suddenly I see a figure in the distance. I cry for help, but my call is snatched away by the wind. I pass out. I wake up to the gentle breeze of a hand fan and slight tapping on my cheek. I gradually open my eyes and see a man dressed in a strange attire. He is wearing a plain maroon robe held at the waist with a bright yellow sash, some pointy leather shoes and on his head a furry hat. He spoke, flat with no emotion or pitch, “Drink this.” I slurp down some white liquid. It tasted like milk but salty, I recognize it from my grandfather’s tales of his trips to the Gobi Desert – camel milk. I decide to trust this man. Something compels me to tell him my whole story. “Can you help me get back?” I ask the strange man when I am finished. “No.” he replies and my heart sinks. “But I do know a man who can help.” I jump up because of this great news. “Sit down, or I will not take you to him.” I obediently sit down and soon an old man arrives. He looks like his is a hundred years old, his face a map of deep creases. He stares at me as if he is reading my mind. “Where is the stone?” he asks me. He was reading my mind. I point to the cloth sack, he reaches into it and pulls out the stone then whispers to the man. The man calls out and a woman comes in with a camping stove and a small pan. She lights the stove and puts the pan over it, then takes out a curious bottle of water. The old man notices me staring at the bottles and says “Holy Water.” I nod my head in understanding and the old man grunts. The woman now leaves the room. The old man picks up the stone and drops it into the pan. I hold back a startled grasp. The old man them pours in some holy water and waits. Suddenly I see that the stone turns into liquid still glowing as brightly as ever. The old man then asks me for the pocket watch and I obligingly hand it over to him. He pours some of the glowing liquid onto it and I gasp as it disappears into the lines. “You can go home now, just look at the new picture.” He says as he leaves the room. I take back the pocket watch and open it up. The old man is right, there is a new picture there. I stare at it again and I hear a loud whoosh. I close my eyes and count to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten I open my eyes and find myself in my bed, in my bedroom. I put my pocket watch under the bed and fall asleep. Digging up a ghastly attacker Clearwater Bay School, Kirsten Lai, Fiction: Group 2

t was a sweltering day at the beach and the sun was shining like a glittering gold coin in the sky. I was at the beach digging a down reaching moat as my sister had instructed. It was so deep that the water had started gushing in. My father had advised me to play with my younger sister and he would treat me with a double scoop ice cream if I did do the job. I“It is not deep enough! For god’s sake dig faster!” my younger sister screamed so loudly that my ears started ringing. My younger sister acted like she was my boss. However, apart from following my irritating sister’s demands, the trip to the beach was remarkably relaxing even though I would rather have went on an exciting adventure. All of a sudden, the sand began to rise and whirl. It was a tornado of sand. I caught sight of the beach shifting away from me, and I lost sight of my family and everyone who was on the beach. It was shocking and horrid. I hoped and hoped with all my heart that this was just a dream. When the sand settled, I found myself in a place consumed with a lot of sand. I could not even describe how much there was. There were cacti, camels and brown bears all around me. There were even snow leopards and wolves! I was relieved that they were a distance away. A bit of melting snow was even on the ground! Which desert snowed? I knew it! I just knew! I was doing a project on it in school and then, it hit me. I was in the Gobi Desert! My gaze travelled to my feet and I realized that I was in a patch of soft and fluffy snow. I noticed a hole a few inches away from my feet and this hole appeared very similar to the one I dug at the beach. It was shaped like a ring and was endless deep. Without warning, something green with spikes began to rise from the hole. It did not have a nose and its skin was rough and disgusting with blood covering its body. I was too scared to . The hair-raising creature its arm out and tried to grab me. With the speed of a ninja, I spun around and hurried away. Goose bumps rose when its warty hand brushed against my arm. The creature was stone cold. I ran and ran until I was out breath. I crouched down and panted. I had never been as tired as I was now, but at least the terrifying creature was out of sight. I inhaled deeply and stood up. I turned around and I was faced with the creature I had just seen. This time it was brandishing a dagger. I stared at it anxiously. I noticed its eyes were bloodshot ruby. It had fangs as sharp as fangs. Fortunately, I realized that I still had my shovel with me. Just as the horrendous creature lifted up his dagger, ‘WHAM’, I went at it with my shovel. As the monstrous creature tumbled to the ground, the dagger flew out of its claws and landed right next to my feet. This was not an ordinary dagger. The handle was made out of gold. There were even turquoise-coloured crystals decorating it! It was ‘Ornamental Sheath Date of Interment!’ This artifact was used many years ago. Had I made a discovery? “Mum! Kaley! Look, I found this in the Gobi Desert!” I yelled to them delightedly. My mum smiled and told me, “I see you have been to the Gobi Desert like I have I have been there four times and I have not found that dagger. That dagger belonged to my great, great, great, great, grandfather and it was stolen by a strange creature. Thank you for finding it for me. I did not tell you this too, my great, great, great, great, grandfather was Nomad who lived in the Gobi Desert. That’s why you found that precious dagger there. It was and will be cherished by our family.” Pleased my mum gave me a big hug. Watching and listening to every single word, my younger sister complained. “Hey, why did Kirsten get to go to the Gobi Desert instead of me?” “You will go there when the time comes. There are still artifacts for both of you to find and that includes jewelry,” my mum announced, trying to get my sister to calm down. When I heard my mum say that, I did wonder if I would be able to go on another adventure to the Gobi Desert. I looked at the castle I had built for my sister. Just then, I remembered. Where was my dad? He had promised me to get me a double scooped ice cream. Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw my dad with double scoop ice cream. The cup did not contain any random flavor. It contained the best flavours ever! They were chocolate and cookies and cream! I grinned at my lovely dad. It was really the best day in my life! Tales of the Gobi Desert Diocesan Boys’ School Primary Division, Marcus Du, Fiction: Group 2

HAT DOES THE FOX SA……” The rest of the phone’s unique yet annoying ringtone “ was drowned out by the roaring laugh of a pudgy man who was having too much beer in his dotage. A well-built hand reached for the iPhone 5 in a neon yellow case. “Hello?” said the young man, albeit in a pessimistic tone. He was not used to being disturbedW during his daily, or to be specific, nightly alcohol consumption period. Dave Halfaway was half finished with a bottle of expensive champagne, while his father, Dennis Halfaway, was way past his tenth bottle of beer. The caller was one of millions of Halfaway Logistics users, requesting cargo to be sent from one destination to another, sometimes to exotic places all around the world. But this call would be the most exotic place ever. “Allo?” The caller replied in a thick Asian accent. “Ish thish Halfaway Loghishticsh? I need a pakagesh deviviered to Mongolia.” “Sure,” said Dave, “what do you need shipped” “It ish shtricty confidenshial, I jusht need it shipped to a shertain place. I will give you the direcshuns now. When you get to , head 76 miles Shouth, and follow the dirt path for another 3 miles. There will be a village there. Shay the package ish from quasar and someone will take it. That ish all.” And so the caller hung up. “Da!” Dave cried. The pudgy man slowly stood up, and tottered over to where Dave was sitting. “What ish it?” Dennis said before regurgitating onto his own belly. “Da, I think that we should talk about this tomorrow.” Dave said, only then noticing his dad’s snoring. Dave slumped into the poorly upholstered chair and tried to enjoy whatever was left of the champagne. Two days later, Dave finally had the chance to sit down and have a chat with his father. “Da, we have to ship a parcel to someone in the middle of the Gobi desert.” “Then ship it there” “But none of our couriers have enough brain capacity to get it to that little hut in the middle of Mongolia, Da!” “Then we’ll deliver it ourselves” blurted Dennis. “Fantastic idea!” said Dave, sarcasm dripping out of his mouth; typical of a conversation between father and son After five days of Dave procrastinating, father and son hobbled into Ulaanbaatar Domestic airport. On account of Dave having “texting cramps” and Dennis being too lazy, they ordered a porter to carry the parcel the size of a soccer ball to the Avis car rental. “Hello.” said Dave to the lone concierge, “We’ve rented a Ford Terrain, with four wheel drive, a navigation system and the whole kaput via online. Is this where we retrieve the keys?” “Yes,” replied the person, in a surprisingly accent free voice. “But I’m sorry, it broke down yesterday. We have a replacement in Bay 4.” The hand of the concierge reached over the table and placed a single key on the table. “Have a good time!” “Good time my foot!” grumbled Dave. In Bay 4, a weather battered Toyota pickup was waiting for them. The interior was bare except for two seats. Dave groaned and flung open the door. The door then proceeded to fall off its hinges. Half an hour later, they were sitting in a beat up Volvo that had seen better days, but at least it was better than the pickup. Dave had “forcefully” requested the Volvo SUV from Avis. It had involved a lot of words that should not be mentioned in public. On second thought, they should not be mentioned anywhere. The first problem was the direction. No one knew where the south was until Dennis realized that by looking at where the sun rose, you could tell where was south. The second problem was faeces. Literally. Half a meter of camel crap surrounded the city. It was a good thing the car had wipers. Dennis suddenly needed a nap, so Dave left him in the back seats and drove on. Fifty minutes later, Dave arrived at the dirt path. The first thing he did was to clamber out and…… text, leaving Dennis to snore on. Dave then noticed the condition of the car tires and swore. He dragged his father out of the car and took four new tires out along with a portable jack. The problem was that the jack sunk into the sand when under the car. They drove the car up onto the dirt path. The dirt path wasn’t really a path. It was a trail. The width was the length of a bus and went on for miles, sticking out of the sand like an old person’s vein. With the tires fixed, they strolled leisurely to a pond with a tree they had spotted in the middle of screwing on the third tire. Dave went back to texting and Dennis to sleeping, though an hour later, Dave would be sleeping too. The next morning, they had a breakfast composed of a can of beer from Dennis’ bag, bread and margarine left from the last person or people who had used the car, and beef jerky from Dave’s pocket. They had tried to catch the birds bathing in the pool, but all they had to show for it was the birds’ “tokens of appreciation” all over their shirts. They took off their shirts and scrubbed them in the pond with reeds and waited for them to dry in the car. It was two hours past noon when they made their way onto the dirt trail, or path, whichever one you prefer. The village was not a village. It was a shabby clutter of motley tents. Dave hollered “Package from Quasar! Package from Quasar! Package from Quasar!” Everybody looked out but only one person came out. A young woman about Dave’s age. She received it with vigor and ripped the wrappings, revealing only a small box with a ring inside. A message was written in the language of Mongolia that we don’t need to translate. The woman thanked the father and son duo, praising them for bringing that wonderful piece of news.

Epilogue Quasar and the young woman, called Benglutai, got married and settled down in Canada. Dave became a social worker, but continued to text his girlfriend on his phone. He has changed the ringtone Dennis retired, to try and create a better bond between Dave and himself Winner

Wolf Diocesan Boys’ School Primary Division, Jason Tsui, Fiction: Group 2

ayday! Mayday! We’re losing attitude! The captain frantically tries to radio someone “ for help. “We’re not going to make it! I’m sorry everyone.” The intercom came to life, throwing everyone onboard into a panic. Pained Mwhispers of farewells and cries of hysteria were occasionally heard from the jumbled din. They were falling fast; no one expected to get out of this alive. All their fates were sealed in this giant death contraption. The impact was as if in slow motion. Most had closed their eyes, suddenly hit by a wave of serenity, with the occasional child wailing in fear and confusion. Even with their last breaths, parents here and there tried to shelter their kids from harm. The plane collided with the ground. Their once light world surrendered to the darkness.

* * * A ten year old, Kris, awoke with a groan to a cold, wet object placed on his cheek. Vision hazy, the boy had to readjust to the harsh sunlight that shone over him. Where was he? Was he dead? Heaven wasn’t this unpleasant, was it? The lad squinted and looked towards the source which woke him up and shrieked at the sight in front of him. Directly in front of him were the terrifying gaze of a wolf! Seeing that the boy was awake, the tan-coated wolf once again pressed its cold, wet nose to Kris’s cheek before baring its teeth in its version of a wolfy grin. Kris scuttled backwards in shock and fear. Wait, is that a grin? Getting over the shock, the lad bravely moved forward to take a closer look at the beast, before hesitantly reaching a hand forward to pet it. The wolf thrummed in response to the pets, scooting closer for more. Establishing that the wild animal wasn’t going to eat him, Kris slowly got up and looked properly at his surroundings. Only one glance was sufficient to render the young boy speechless. The carcass of the plane remained, mostly intact and lying on its side, while bodies and debris littered the floor around Kris. The aftermath of the tragedy. And they had landed right smack in the middle of a desert. The Gobi Desert to be exact. The boy knelt down again, slowly flipping over the battered bodies of a couple who were located the closest to him. The grotesque sight was too much for him. He let out a choked sob before falling to his knees. Those were his parents. And he was the lone survivor of the crash. The wolf whimpered and nudged the grieving boy, who jolted out of his reverie. He stumbled over to the hulking mass of fallen plane, before proceeding to mechanically search the mess for anything remotely useful for his survival. Grabbing what he could and his mother’s pendant, Kris started walking away from what had once been, dragging his sore body and meager possessions in search for shelter. The wolf gave a short bark before loping towards the boy and herding him in the opposite direction. “Hey! What!” The astonished boy yelped before stopping mid-sentence when he came face to face with the beady black eye of a massive sandy wolf, which was clearly the alpha. Intimidated by the piercing gaze of the alpha, the boy quickly turned to flee, only to be halted in his tracks by his savior, flanked by a snowy white and a chestnut brown. With his parents dead, lost in the middle of a rocky desert and surrounded by wolves, Kris finally gave up. Tears started streaming down his face. The lad turned slowly to the alpha male. “Just kill me already! I know you will anyways! So why not now?” he screamed, hysterically. Exhausted by the whole ordeal, he started to feel woozy, fatigue finally winning the fight to take over his body. His world went black a second time that day. When he opened his eyes, his vision adjusted and he was once again scared out of his wits by a month full of sharp teeth. He screamed and he thought he had died and gone to hell, before remembering the pack of wolves that seemed to have adopted him as part of their pack. The tan wolf whimpered, reminding the boy of his presence. Kris looked at the wolf, ran a hand through the shaggy coat of fur, quietly cooing at the wolf’s cute antics, earning an indignant huff from the animal. He laughed, murmuring a soft “sorry.” The wolf looked at him and gave a lopsided grin. “Say, since we’re starting to become friends, can I give you a name?” Kris enquired. The wolf gave a short bark of approval. “OK then… let’s see… Josh?...nope… Tanner?... ewww… Kevin?... you’re right, that’s a horrible idea…Kk…Kaa… Ah-ha! Got it! How about Kai?” the wolf gave another approving bark. “Kai it is then!” the lad proclaimed. Just then, a howl was heard, and the newly christened Kai quickly ushered the boy out into the open, where the other wolves were assembled, ready to devour their freshly caught meal. This was the first out of many nights Kris spent with his new wolf family.

* * * Several years later, the whir of an engine ripped through the air, sending the wolf pack howling in warning. It was a team of archeologists, in search of hidden treasures of the Gobi Desert which it had kept in secret for decades. The caravan on jeeps stopped and a group of the scientists got out of their vehicles and scouted the area for any dangers. One of the them came across Kris, who was shielded behind Kai. The scientist yelled, attracting his companions, who immediately rushed over to investigate. Kai bared his fangs menacingly. The archeologists scrambled around in horror before conjuring up a rifle and taking a shot. It hit the tan wolf in the leg; crimson blood streaming down pouring onto the sand. Oblivious to Kris’ screams of horror and Kai’s whimpers of pain, the men proceeded to shoot all the wolves, drenching the sand with blood. It was a blood bath. Soon it was over, and once again, Kris had lost his family. He was especially devastated by his brother and best friend’s death, whom had died in his arms. The archeologists then brought the protesting boy, kicking and screaming back to their camp, and later brought him back with them to civilization. But the damage was done. Kris was broken. A part of his soul had died in the Gobi Desert. He would never be the same again. Are We Home Yet? Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Chan Siu Yee Tania, Fiction Group 2

he gigantic shadow of the Siberian cast a large patch of darkness over a small, bedraggled group of snow leopards. The moaning wind echoed across the sand dunes and snowflakes fell on the leopards’ matted fur. All of them were exhausted, their paws rough and worn, unable to move. T“Hurry!” a burly leopard, his pelt hidden under masses of scars, hissed breathlessly. “If we stay for any longer, the two-legged creatures will find us!” A tiny leopard with round but desperate eyes and a ragged pelt complained in despair, “But I’m too tired, Claw! I can’t go on. Why can’t we just go home?” Claw shook his head. “I’m sorry, Blizzard. There isn’t enough food back home. The oasis is drying up! If we didn’t go, we would’ve died, just like your father!” Blizzard stared at him quizzically, her blue eyes filled with doubt. Claw sighed. We’ve only barely evaded capture these few days, but the two-legged creatures won’t give up. What can we do? The leopards settled down in a small, cramped cave to pass the night. Blizzard snuggled next to her mother, Storm, seeking comfort, and Storm licked her muddy fur in a comforting gesture. Poor Blizzard…she may not be able to see this journey’s end… The clear, vibrating calls of a few hunting hounds alerted some hunters camping near the Siberian Steppes. The hunters woke up at once, and they ran out to greet the hounds. “They’ve tracked down the snow leopards!” one of them whispered. “Let’s move.” The others nodded their heads in agreement, and started heading for the Steppes. But deep down, the hunter who had spoken hesitated. Should I really kill them? Is it fair…? We already have enough food this winter! Storm jolted up. The rhythmic thudding of heavy footsteps, up the Steppes...she knew what was happening. She had long anticipated their arrival. “Run, everyone! Run!” The hunters saw their prey fleeing, and they, in fear of losing their well-earned prizes, released their hunting hounds. Blizzard stumbled, her weak limbs buckling underneath her body. Storm feared that it would be the end of the both of them. The hunters closed in… “Run swiftly!’” she yelled. “Find Claw and ask him to protect you! He’ll keep you safe! I’ll stay here.” Blizzard asked, “Why can’t you come with me, Mother? I want to go with you!” Storm knew the creatures would only want her, but not Blizzard, for her beautiful fur. “Run with the winds! Go!” Blizzard heard the urgency in Storm’s voice and sprinted away, occasionally tripping over jagged rocks. Blizzard kept glancing back. Storm had been surrounded by a pack of hunters and hounds, and her white fur was splattered with blood. “Run!” Blizzard cried. Storm shook her head sadly. She knew that she could not escape, for Blizzard’s sake. Blizzard cried, tears streaming from her eyes. “I’ll come with you, Mother! Please don’t…” Storm hissed. “Go! Run while you can, Blizzard! I love you! Go now!” Blizzard very reluctantly dashed off towards the pack of struggling leopards. Storm gazed wistfully at Blizzard’s rapidly disappearing image. I wish I could see her grow up, catch her own prey, have a family of her own… Blizzard faded into the distance. Claw and the other leopards limped up the Steppes, and a pang of uncertainty gripped him. Have I really made a good choice in bringing them here? All of a sudden, a shrill voice penetrated his thoughts. “Claw! My mother…” Blizzard’s horrified expression told him everything. Claw’s body trembled violently. “No! This cannot be! Storm…” Claw knew it would be suicidal if they turned back. Blizzard pleaded at him with her large sapphire eyes. “Please…” Blizzard looks just like Storm… Suddenly, a surge of memories overwhelmed Claw. He remembered the days at the oasis, playing with Storm; rolling in the sand, hunting ibex…they were more than mere littermates. They were the best of friends. She’s my sister! I have to save her! He turned around. “Let’s go.” The two-legged creatures forced Storm into a wooden cage. Storm gazed around, trying to catch a last glimpse of her cub. Oh, Blizzard… Claw whispered to Blizzard, “I’ll distract the hunters. You go save Storm. Whatever happens, don’t stop.” Blizzard nodded and ran towards the cage. Meanwhile, Claw pawed the ground fiercely, and a white whirlwind erupted from the bare white ground, engulfing the hunters as if the earth itself had come to life. A hunter spotted a small leopard gnawing on the bars of the cage. Its thin body trembled, and its limbs shook from the intense cold. It looked like it could fall at any moment, and blood was trickling from the sides of its mouth. But a fiery determination burned in its eyes that even the deepest chill could not overwhelm. The caged leopard smoothed its rough fur with its tongue lovingly, but the small leopard was still very agitated. Were they mother and daughter? He was overwhelmed by a sudden desire to return to his family; his home. “Hey! What are you doing! You want to free the leopard? Give me the key right now!” The hunter shook his head defiantly. “We already have enough food this year! Our families no longer suffer from hunger! We can’t kill them just to satisfy our own greed! Let them go!” He thrust the key into the lock. Storm sprang out of the cage and ran away, with Blizzard and Claw supporting her. Blizzard nudged Storm gently, her weariness gone and overwhelmed by joy. “It’s okay, mother. You’re safe now! Let’s go explore our new home!” Storm smiled and replied, “I’m already home.” The leopards ran off into the Siberian Steppes, and the rays of the rising sun warm against their backs. The hunter smiled knowingly at them as warmth filled his heart. He was submerged in a reverie, and he saw his children sitting around the fireplace, awaiting his return. It’s time to go home. My Choice, My Choice Oooonly! Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Chan Sum Yin Vanessa, Fiction: Group 2

here was uneasiness in the air. Unlike the usual merry evening, no music, no singing was coming out from the bun-shaped white tents clustered on the Alashan Plateau. In fact, if it were not for their faint glow in the darkness, you would have thought they were deserted gers abandoned in the heart of the Gobi Desert. Yet out on the patches of Tthe surrounding green echoed the rumbling snores of the Bactrian camels and the Przewalski’s horses. They were sleeping soundly like babies for they had no worries - at least, not yet. Everyone had locked themselves inside their gers, clutching each other tightly around the blazing fire, yet no one could feel its warmth. Fear had flooded their veins and chilled their bones. Their hearts were pounding in their ears. The howling of the wind grew louder and louder and the fine soft sand swept into the invisible gaps. The air was soon filled with the shrieking of the herds outside, yet no one dared to move. All they could do was to clasp their hands together, praying for the poor soul of the chosen one, for tonight was the night when Elesunbug, the Sand Demon, returned to haunt them and claim her sacrifice. Everyone was praying, except for Baatar. He was not going to believe in these old wives’ tales, for he was a bagatur, a hero. To him, those shrieks were no more than frightened camels and horses scared by the wailing sandstorm, which was very common at this time of year. The only difference was that it was particularly severe that night. He lived alone, and he had always been alone. Now and then he would wish for a family, but the few girls in his tribe were not his cup of tea. While he was humming away in his ger, a sweet rustling voice echoed in his ears, “Open the door, open the door and let me in please!” Bataar knew that it was very dangerous to open the door during a sandstorm, but he couldn’t resist the pleading. As he opened the door, his breath was taken away by a graceful maiden, standing there with long sandy hair that swayed and danced in the air. He hustled her in and immediately shut the door. He offered her hot tea and bread but she turned it down. All she did was to sit by the fire and stare at him with dreamy eyes and a gentle smile on her face. She looked so pale, yet so full of life. “Do you like me?” The maiden finally opened her mouth. Her voice tinkled in the air, just like the melody Bataar was humming earlier. Bataar was speechless, for he had never seen such a beautiful girl before in his life. “Do you like me? Do you want to be with me?” she asked again. “Yes, yes, I do!” shouted Bataar. He couldn’t control himself anymore. He leaned forward and embraced her in his arms. “I’ll do anything to be with you,” Bataar whispered in her ears. “Are you sure?” And as she spoke, her smile grew wider and wider. Bataar was shocked to see that there were no teeth in her mouth, but a deep dark hole. Before Bataar could yell for help, he was already inside the gaping hole, and in a few seconds he was lost forever. The sandstorm left just as suddenly as it had come. All was peaceful once again. The next morning, everyone went out of their gers with baggy eyes, busy counting their livestock. They were overjoyed to find that none of their camels or horses were taken. “Elesunbug must have felt generous this year,” they thought. Suddenly, Kushi’s scream pierced the air. Everyone rushed to Bataar’s ger where the scream came from. There was no sign of Bataar except for a small heap of fine sand by the fireplace. Everyone’s hearts sank, for they knew now that Bataar was the CHOSEN sacrifice for this year. “There’s no point mourning about it,” they thought, “What’s done is done - at least we’re safe for another year.” A cold breeze swept across the sky. Flickers of snowflakes drifted in the hazy sunlight, filling the air with a fresh, cosy chill. Very soon, the ground was carpeted with layers of soft white snow brought by the northern wind. Just as the people and animals were rejoicing, the snow got heavier and heavier, as if winter had arrived early, much earlier than it should. Very soon everything was buried in thick relentless snow. People and animals alike were crying out for mercy. Casbuh, the Snow Demon, sneered at their struggles, and blew blizzards from its frozen jaws. He showed no mercy, for his heart was cold and hard like stone. He clutched his icicle talons tighter and just as he was about to draw the last breath out from the poor souls, a massive raging cloud of stormy dust roared from the south, charging forth like the entire fleet of the desert sand. “They’re mine, they’re mine!” bellowed Elesunbug, “I alone have the power to decide ‘who to die’ and ‘when to die’!” She covered the earthlings with a layer of fine silky sand and thawed them with her warm breath. The two mighty demons challenged each other, filling the sky with their beastly roars, trying to overpower and swallow the other. Suddenly, Casbuh released his grip and collapsed. Powerless as he was, he crawled back to his polar lair. Elesunbug took up her reign once more in the cold Gobi Desert. For the first time, men and animals saw the graceful face of Elesunbug swaying in the sky. And for the first time, they were grateful for her presence. The Perfect Shot Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Cheng Tsing Grace, Fiction: Group 2

yler felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He struggled to open his tired eyes. He was exhausted, confused and weary, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing. He reached for his camera, but it wasn’t beside him. Suddenly, images came flooding into his mind. Flashes of what he had been doing gradually became clearer. He Thad been travelling, bright and early, trying to get the perfect shot of the bitter, 500,000-square- mile Gobi Desert to add to his collection of scenery around the world. He had come across the perfect scene: a jerboa, mid-jump. But just as he was about to click the button on his Nikon, his vision started to blur and his legs started to get weak. Before he knew it, the only thing he saw was darkness. A harsh gust of wind swept through the air, causing Tyler to sit up with a jolt. A slight rustle came from his right and, startled, he turned to see where the noise was coming from. An old, smiling Mongolian couple faced him, their eyes crinkling with worry. A small crowd stood closely behind him; all of them looking bewildered. He took this time to examine his surroundings: he was sitting on a thin blanket in an average-sized tent-like structure. Tyler plucked up his courage and attempted to ask the old lady where he was. She stared at him, confused, and it took a moment for Tyler to realise that she didn’t speak English. The old man spoke up. “Most people speak Mongolian around here,” he said kindly, “although there are some exceptions, including me. We were walking across the desert when we found you unconscious. We took you to our home.” Confused, Tyler then proceeded to tell the old man about how he had been looking for a unique desert scene in the morning and how he had seen the jerboa. A faint smile crossed the old man’s face. “I’m afraid that was a mirage – jerboa are nocturnal. It would be impossible for you to see one in broad daylight. I assume you collapsed, as your body could not cope with the drastic weather changes here in the desert. It takes a while for you to get used to it. “ Tyler nodded half-heartedly, hardly listening. He stared wistfully at the open entrance of the tent. The old man mistook Tyler’s longing to leave as a show of interest. “We keep the doors open as an act of welcome. People who live around here go by a motto: ‘Happy is the one who has guests, merry is the home boasting a tethering rail full of visitor’s horses,’” the old man explained. Tyler suddenly understood why the kind family had taken him in, and was warmed by their hospitality. “Get some rest,” the old man said gently, noticing that Tyler looked dreary. “We’ll talk again in the morning.” The old lady and the rest of the family smiled at him. Tyler lay down drowsily and fell into a deep, deep sleep. The old lady awakened him. Handing his belongings to him, she gestured for him to get ready to go. Perplexed, Tyler did as he was told and got up. “We’ve lost our water supply. We must move the yurt to another place,” the old man said. Guessing that the yurt was the tent, Tyler accepted his belongings and followed the old couple out into the desert. After walking for a few hours, the old man suddenly noticed that a cow had broken free from the herd and escaped. “We must find the missing cow!” declared the old man. “Please stay here to guard our belongings and cattle while we go in search of the missing cow.” The old man wore a troubled yet determined expression on his face and soon, he and his family went off in different directions. Tyler sat in the sand and waited for their return. He took his camera out in hopes of taking the perfect desert scene, but was disappointed – all around him was nothing but sand dunes. He let out a sigh and waited for the old man and his family to come back. After a while, he began to hear some noises and turned around to see a small human figure in the distance. As the figure grew larger, he realized that the old man had returned; closely following was his family and the missing cow. Pure joy was splashed across their faces; a beaming smile was on every face. The children ran in delight as the old couple trailed slowly behind them, their eyes twinkling with obvious happiness that they had retrieved the cow. Their genuine joy brought a grin to Tyler’s face; the simple hospitality he found in the Gobi Desert wasn’t something he had expected. Tyler followed the crowd into the desert. He reached for his camera then, thinking better of it, put it away. He smiled. Some moments you just couldn’t capture with a camera. The Three Wishes Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Chong Yan Ying, Fiction: Group 2

s the luminous sun beat down mercilessly on the Flaming Cliffs in the Gobi Desert, the hills seemed to shoot blood-red flames into the sky. Three weary travellers, Tyler, Ho and Wang trudged down the slopes of the famous archaeological site and into its crimson basin. Tyler was a famous American archaeologist, Ho was a Beijing paleontologistA and Wang was a local Gobi Desert guide. They kept walking until they arrived at their destination when suddenly, Wang stumbled onto two cracked, round and sun-scorched objects. Wang wondered, “What are these?” as she bent down to scrape away the crust around the eggs. When she had finished digging, she gasped and her eyes became as round as saucers. They were two dinosaur eggs! Without a second thought, she cradled the precious eggs in her arms and sprinted towards Tyler and Ho. “Look, I’ve-,” However, it was too late – Wang had tripped over a rock and fallen down. She almost got a heart attack when she saw that the two eggs had shattered into a million pieces. When Tyler and Ho rushed over to help her, Wang sobbed and told them the whole story as they listened with horrified expressions. Although the scientists were angry with Wang for being clumsy, they still tried to comfort her. Afterwards, they settled onto a flat piece of sandstone, and the sultry air and the lullaby of the nearby sand dunes made them as drowsy as drunken people. Just as the three were about to doze off, a shroud of mist enveloped them and a chilling wind blew. Out of the mist, two figures loomed above them. Instantly, Tyler and Ho grabbed their guns and Wang grasped her walking stick. “Who-Who are you? Wh-What do you want?” Although Tyler was a brave man, this scared him to the bone. “I told you, Yu, this wasn’t a good way to introduce ourselves,” a lady-like voice muttered. The mist cleared and floating above the fragments of the dinosaur eggs were two dinosaur-dragons – that is, creatures with the heads of Triceratops and the bodies of Chinese dragons. They turned to face the people. “I am Lan,” voiced a blue dinosaur-dragon, the one with the lady-like voice. “I am Yu,” boomed the other one in green, in a deep voice. “I, emperor of all the dinosaur-dragons, thank you for freeing my sister, Lan, and I from our prison created by the evil sand god Sha. In return, we will fulfill two of your wishes.” Tyler was a greedy and selfish person who wanted to earn more money by discovering fossils. Before the others could protest, he had blurted out, “Lead us to a fossil ground!” Ho murmured, “I wish there were a forest barrier at the edge of the Gobi Desert to keep out the sand blowing into China.” Wang wished for an oasis near her isolated village, for the villagers and weary travellers. Yu nodded, “Very well. But remember, only two wishes will be granted, and the person whose wish is not granted will stumble upon misfortune.” Suddenly, he and Lan disappeared. Everyone shuddered at this warning. The next day, Ho found a dried-up swamp bed littered with dinosaur bones. She called to the others and Tyler immediately ran to the edge to start digging. Suddenly, Wang and Ho, who were far from Tyler, felt strong winds billow around them and saw a huge sand hurricane form out of nowhere. It swept across the sandy plain and headed straight toward Tyler. Wang and Ho called to Tyler to get away, but Tyler thought they were just pulling his leg. In fact, Yu and Lan who were looking down from the heavens had gotten help from the wind god Feng to conjure up a sand hurricane to hit Tyler. Ho and Wang shouted for Tyler to get back to the camp, but thinking of the money he might earn, Tyler’s stubbornness got the better of him and he kept digging. The two ladies left him and fled. Not long afterwards, they heard a deafening “SWISH” as the hurricane came upon Tyler, and the last of his muffled howl was silenced as sand buried him deep beneath the surface. Ho and Wang were distraught by the sight before them but they couldn’t help but feel that Tyler had brought this upon himself. In the heavens, Yu and Lan were met by a huge commotion. The gods had learned about the wishes and were forming sides. The sand god Sha, leader of ‘Chaos’ was angry that Yu and Lan had escaped and used his sand to conjure a sand hurricane. Sha’s demons sided with him. Meanwhile, the god of earth, wind, water and other gods supported Yu and Lan and promoted ‘Peace’. Thereafter, ‘Chaos’ and ‘Peace’ fought against each other from time to time. Whenever ‘Chaos’ won some land, Sha would take it all for himself and not share with the others. Discontent, the demons that originally sided with him left to join the ‘Peace’ force. At last, Sha was the only one left and eventually lost. As he was the god of sand and evil, he still owned the Gobi Desert. To fulfill Ho and Wang’s wishes, Yu turned into the Great Green Wall of China to prevent sand from blowing into China and threatening the people’s crops, health and lives. Lan turned into Crescent Lake, which allowed the people in Wang’s village to lead better lives by helping them with farming. When travellers came through, they were able to rest their weary feet. The Chinese living nearby and in the Gobi Desert rejoiced and thanked the benevolent gods for helping them. Whenever you see a sandstorm, you are sure to see a band of righteous gods with Yu and Lan standing out, fighting against a sand figure, Sha. And so the struggle between selfishness and selflessness continues… The Last Dinosaur on Earth Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Faddis Jasmine, Fiction: Group 2

worked as a miner in Gobi Desert. If it wasn’t for the income, I wouldn’t have been a miner. My parents and I barely had enough to survive. I worked long days and felt lonely and miserable. The other miners were indifferent, and we seldom talked about ourselves. One day something peculiar happened. IWe were digging a new mine when my shovel hit something hard. I picked it up. It looked like a chicken egg but was much bigger! I hid it in my toolbox and continued working. Night came. I quietly snuck the toolbox back to my shabby home. Although I was exhausted, the queer egg kept me wide awake. I shut all the windows, making sure that no one saw it. I examined the egg—it had little patches and dark green spots. “Hmm…strange egg…” I thought. As I held the egg cautiously in my hands, I felt its warmth. I put it close to my nose and sniffed it. “It is just an ordinary egg,” I yawned. I put it aside and went to sleep. One month passed and winter hit the desert again. It was a bleak winter’s day and the biting wind had forced the mine to shut down. I was tidying when I heard a cracking sound and spotted the wobbling egg. Suddenly, a small head poked out! It had two horn-like things on its head. “A dinosaur!” I cried excitedly. I decided to call it Jade because it was green. It looked at me with big round adorable eyes. I found some milk and fed it. Jade gulped it down hungrily. Jade had invigorated my solitary life. Every day after work, I would sprint home to feed Jade. I would make sure that the door and windows were shut so as not to scare my neighbours. Spring came and it became warmer. I surreptitiously looked around the house and decided to let Jade enjoy a bit of sunbathing. “Good lord! Is…is that a dinosaur?” I jumped to my feet at the voice. I swiftly hid Jade behind my back, but it was too late. “It’s …it’s just...a pet!” I replied apprehensively. “Can I hold your …‘pet’?” asked the man anxiously. I hesitated. He looked very rich, wearing a black belt decorated with precious stones. Warily, I handed Jade over. He squinted at Jade and examined it as if he were a professional. “Young lad, where did you get this Allosaurus from?” “From the mine. How’d you know it’s an Allosaurus?” “I’m a zoologist. In fact, I’m a collector of rare animals. The desert isn’t a suitable habitat for the Allosaurus. Why don’t you sell it to me? I can provide it with a suitable home. Say, for ten thousand dollars?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Really? Are you sure?” “Of course!” said the zoologist, “This species is one of a kind!” I put Jade into its cage and handed it to the zoologist. He gave me a huge wad of money. “Thank you!” He snatched the cage from me and drove off. Staring at the bundle of notes, the thrill disappeared. What if the zoologist didn’t know Jade’s special diet? What if Jade refused to eat and starved? After much pondering, I decided to return the money in exchange for Jade. I hopped on my motorbike to catch up with the zoologist. The zoologist had stopped in a dark wet alley. I hid behind a lamppost. “Such a fool that lad is! This Allosaurus will definitely bring us a huge fortune!” the ‘zoologist’ mumbled to himself as he disappeared into a dodgy store. He was no zoologist! I felt ashamed of myself for betraying my only companion. I had to save Jade. The merchant scurried into a chamber. I followed him in. I entered a large rectangular room and hid under the sofa. He soon fell asleep, snoring from the exhaustion of finding animals all day. I had to act fast. I crawled out of my hiding space and searched everywhere. I came to a room with a ‘No Entry’ sign on it. This had to be the room I was looking for! A stink of rotting food and excretion choked me. I held my breath. A large number of cages were arrayed in the room. I saw snow leopards, Gobi bears, jerboas and Golden eagles. Jade was nowhere to be seen. I searched and finally found it hiding in a dark corner, trembling with fright. I removed its chain and comforted it. Just then, the merchant strode into the room. “Training time!” he announced. I hid behind a trampoline, peeking through the holes. I saw the merchant whipping the Gobi bears, forcing them to jump through hoops. I couldn’t bear the cruelty anymore! I decided to free all the animals. After the training, the merchant locked them in their cages and went out. I saw a bunch of keys hanging on the wall. I tiptoed over and grabbed them. I panicked. There were many keys! I picked the shiniest one and tried it on the first cage, but it didn’t work. I tried the rusty one. ‘Click!’ the lock opened. One by one, I tried each key to open the cages. The animals were starting to get restless. As I opened the last cage, I heard footsteps approaching. “What are you doing here?” the evil merchant roared. “Run for your lives!” I hollered. The animals immediately ran as if they understood my command. The merchant blocked me. “You dirty little crook, I will catch you!” Out of nowhere, Jade appeared and bit the merchant’s leg. He yelled in pain. I grabbed Jade and fled. The memory of the merchant abusing the animals changed me. I quit my job to work to protect endangered species in the Gobi Desert. It is more fulfilling than being a miner! Jade now lives peacefully. If you happen to see a dinosaur in future, don’t be afraid. It is perhaps the last dinosaur on Earth. The Wolf of the Gobi Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Kwan Yui Hei Adelaide, Fiction: Group 2

a…” It was a sleep bleat. I woke up and quickly fumbled into the farm in the freezing “ night. I sniffed and smelt the iron scent of blood. I knew exactly what had happened. The wolves had stolen my cattle again. I trembled with anger and looked around but could not see them, so they must be gone Band there was nothing I could do then. I went back to bed but in my mind, I was already planning my revenge. I needed someone to help me. My sons are the trainers and hunters of the family, and they could not possibly be taken away from their duties. My wife was close to giving birth and must stay home. My daughter, Bolormaa, was a young girl and would not be of much help. So I turned to my neighbour Ghooku, who was living about half a mile away from me. He agreed on the condition that we had to invite him over to share the feast every time we had a celebration in the next year. That’s fair enough. In the Gobi Desert, food, not money, is of paramount importance. Everything we do is about food - producing or safekeeping it. We are eager to help each other, but we expect to be paid in food in return. The next morning, our quest began. We searched everywhere. I was very good at finding traces left behind by animals in the Gobi, but I found nothing. We must be dealing with a very cunning wolf this time. The search on the first day was in vain and we went to a cave nearby to spend the night. The next morning, we got up early. Suddenly… “Do you see the brown dot over there?” Ghooku said. We grinned silently in delight. We aimed our guns at this brown dot. It was still very far away but seemed to be coming in our direction, so there was no hurry for us to fire. As the brown spot came nearer, we could see it was not a wolf. It was a man riding a brown horse coming towards us. The rider came nearer, and we could see his face. It was my elder son Bataan! “Dad!” he gasped, “Mom has given birth. We have a new brother!” So we hurried back home. That night we had a big feast. Bolormaa cooked a delicious lamb and made some airag (fermented horse milk) for dinner. Everything was very tasty. We had not had such a feast since the birth of Bat, my second son. I was very proud of Bolormaa. She will be a marvellous wife and mother when she grows up. After the feast, when Ghooku was gone, my wife whispered to me, “I saw Ghooku putting something into his bag stealthily before he left. I think he has stolen some of our bear meat. I don’t think you should trust him anymore.” “Nonsense! I have known Ghooku for twenty years. You are probably too tired after childbirth. You are imagining things.” I said, rather annoyed. Over the next few days my whole family was very busy, so I could not go out to find the wolves, but I was on guard every night. The wolves did not come. When the new baby was seven days old, the treacherous wolves took a camel calf. How did the wolves know that I was exhausted and would not be on guard that night? I was overwhelmed with rage. The following day, Ghooku and I set off to hunt the wolves again. No traces of them could be found. How could they have come and taken one of my camels and then disappeared like phantoms without leaving any tracks? I was puzzled. After a three-day fruitless search, we went home. Fortunately, nothing had happened to my cattle in my absence. As Ghooku was leaving that night, I said, “Thank your very much for helping me out. You must be exhausted. Well, I know I am, and I will need a good night’s sleep tonight.” Ghooku smiled and bid me farewell. That night, despite what I had told Ghooku, I went to guard my cattle. However, as I was really tired, I soon dozed off after sitting down near the fence. Suddenly, a low bang woke me up. I looked inside my cattle ring and saw Ghooku holding a dead lamb. There was blood on the ground. I could not believe my eyes. “What are you doing here?” I asked Ghooku. He was very surprised to see me, and stammered “I saw a wolf walk by my place. I followed it here but I was too late. It had already killed a lamb. I drove it away, and then I saw that you were here.” “But these are not wolf bites,” I glanced at the lamb carcass, then stared at Ghooku in the eye. “Of course they are!” He stared back. I knew he was lying, and from the wavering of his gaze, I could sense that he knew that I knew he was lying too. “Well, here you go.” Ghooku handed the lamb carcass to me. “The wolf is gone. Let’s get some sleep.” “Yes,” Still staring at him, I continued in an icy tone. “But since you caught the wolf red-handed, maybe it will start taking your cattle too, so you should probably be on guard from now on.” “Now that the wolf knows we are on guard, I don’t think it will come this way again,” he said casually, then turned around and walked home. I shivered. The night was cold, and with a leaden heart and a lamb carcass in my hand, I walked slowly back home. I never invited Ghooku to dinner again.

The Treasure that Dominated Continents Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Luk Tian Nan Gabrielle, Fiction: Group 2

he chanting of “Shine Utga Orrulah! Shine Utga Orrulah!” rose and resonated across the vast sapphire sky that held a flaming, vermillion sun. Situated in the heart of the treacherous Gobi Desert, the heftiest and greatest tribesmen from the Burly Clan assembled. Vigor and good health seemed to radiate from Tthem, evident through their bulging muscles from every angle but there was little time for vanity. All the warriors were dressed in their roughest robes made of wool, and the belts were not worn for handsomeness. In the midst of them stood the chief warrior six-feet-tall, with a square face and prominent chin. “Proceed! If we don’t find the Shine Utga Orrulah, I’ll blame this all on you whimpering fools!” the chief warrior roared ferociously. Legend told that a fierce creature guarded the Shine Utga Orrulah, which housed an ancient treasure, a two-thousand-year old mystery that inspired many fruitless quests. It had become a badge of honour to solve this mystery that had been left for two millennia, so all the Mongolian tribes vowed to get to the bottom of it. The chief warrior was chosen by the tribes’ leaders for his courageousness and intelligence. However, if he failed, he would face the worst punishment ever bestowed: to be banished from the tribe! Nevertheless, he accepted the challenge because whatever the outcome was, he would always know that he had tried his very best. Steadfast and without pausing to rest or take a sip of precious water from their animal skin flasks, the sturdy warriors marched across the arid landscape of fine gold dust and wind-worn rock formations. “Shine Utga Orrulah!” they continued to roar with determination through their bone-dry cracked lips. Raw, chaffed skin in their worn boots was as insignificant as a fly to them. Flaming arrows beating on their sweaty backs, and whipping sandstorms laced with grit that lashed mercilessly at their rough, exposed faces were also no barrier to them. Like a sinister plague of locusts, they swarmed in the direction of the elusive Shine Utga Orrulah. According to legend, this coveted and revered Mongol treasure held the powers to dominate the continents. It was closely guarded by the deadly Alghoi Khorkhoi, also known as the bloody gut worm of 80 feet long, with no arms nor legs. The creature snaked and slithered across the endless sand, taking refuge only in the deepest shadows. The next morning, as the warriors trekked onwards, they noticed molted skin that was like jelly surrounding the entrance to an ominous cave. The chief warrior ordered everyone to go inside and wait for further instructions while he attempted to figure out what it meant. Suddenly, a shuffling sound was heard nearby. All the warriors spun around quickly, their senses on full alert. BOOM! Out of the blue, a dark red lump, the colour of molten lava, exploded from the darkest depths! It was the Alghoi Khorkhoi! The creature filled the deep chasm and was dotted all over with black spots. It let out a blood-curdling shriek and disappeared into the sand right beneath their feet. Before they could come up with a plan of attack, the monster sprang up from right beneath them. The warriors attempted to attack it, but the monster simply sprayed the scores of warriors with its poisonous yellow venom, which corroded the flesh of its victims instantly upon contact. Many of the warriors died a gruesome and gory death, but the bloody gut worm showed no signs of backing down. Hidden on a safe ledge, the chief warrior watched the battle from above, pondering how to kill it by finding its weak spot. He noticed that the monster didn’t let anyone or anything get to its back. “There!” he thought triumphantly to himself. “Its weak spot must be its tail!” This was easier said than done. The Alghoi Khorkhoi was so protective of its tail that it made its gruesome head seem like the tail to throw off any enemies. His mind spun with ideas on how to defeat the creature and paid no attention to the moans and whimpers of his fallen comrades. When he had settled on a method of attack, the careful and brave warrior began hopping from ledge to ledge, chasing after the monster’s tail. The monster could sense that there was a powerful man up high in the cave and kept shifting its eyes from the warriors to the ceiling, searching endlessly for its nemesis. Then, when another warrior distracted the Alghoi Khorkhoi, the chief warrior leapt down from a ledge and landed squarely on its tail with enough force to shake the earth, puncturing his sword into the monster’s jelly-like back. Instantly, yellow gooey liquid started gushing out of the deep wound. It let out an ear-piercing shriek and slithered slowly away, its gaping wound dripping like a river across the cave floor. Swish! The sand left behind by the fatally wounded Alghoi Khorkhoi started shifting and like sand in an hourglass, it revealed a massive graveyard of dinosaur bones of all shapes and sizes. The grand sight took everyone’s breath away… Fossils of every colour, from the deepest blood-red hue to the most dazzling blues made up this rainbow-coloured maze. In the midst of them lay one particular bone that stood out – a lustrous gold that reminded the warriors of the radiant rays of the sun. Shaped like a crown, it was as large as an ostrich’s egg. This chief warrior was drawn to it immediately. It was what they had come all this way for. He strode slowly towards the prize, picked it up, and raised it high above his head. This momentous image was engraved into the minds of the remaining warriors. This warrior’s name was . All because of this bone, he made continents bow to him, and it marked the beginning of the greatest era in Mongolian history! Shortlisted

Dying Echoes Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Ng Tsz Ying, Tiffany, 11

January 1998

arantuyaa (sun-beam) was Mongolian. She lived with her nomadic family and had an older sister named Sarangerel (moon-light). The family had recently moved to the Gobi Desert, which Narantuyaa found entrancing. One day Sarangerel caught Narantuyaa running and called out, “Where are you Ngoing, Naran?” “Why, off to explore, of course,” Naran grinned. “Well, remember to come back quickly. Don’t go too far,” Sarangerel said bossily. Naran trekked along the rough, rocky sand of the Gobi. She was mesmerised by the beautiful sunset. It painted the sky many colours. She saw purple, dark blue, pink—all woven together into a tapestry. Now that’s priceless, Naran thought. She wandered a bit further than usual. She found an opening caved into a large sand dune and, feeling curious, she cautiously walked into the opening. As soon as she was inside, Naran sighed in wonder. Exquisite crystals hung from the cave walls, each as big as her body and as sharp as a needle. The crystals glowed naturally, lighting up the cave. “Narantuyaa.” An elegant voice sounded behind her. Naran jumped in surprise and turned to face a snow leopard. Its fur was snowy white and its eyes shone like sapphires. It had a sleek, lithe body. “What – who are you?” Naran spluttered. “I am Queen Nyra of the snow leopards. I have been expecting you. Not many discover our caves here, and few are innocent children. Now I ask you a favour. Would you like to help us?” “Um… what can I do for you?” “Good. Humans destroy us, hunt us wanting to sell our fur as coats and make medicine from our bones. Our leopards have been starting to die out as a result. Would you ask them to stop?” “Me? But I’m just a girl! What can I do?” Naran asked incredulously. “You can write to your rulers, telling them to pass a law: no more hunting for animal fur. I believe in you, Narantuyaa.” She pondered this for a while. “Alright. I promise.” “Promise is a fragile thing, as easily broken as a spider’s web,” murmured the wise queen. “We honour promises, Narantuyaa. Come, child. Follow me.” Nyra led Naran past some guards and went deeper into the cave. Nyra spoke to a guard and then returned with a crystal engraved with a snow leopard’s head. She pressed it into Naran’s hand. “Now you shall never forget your promise, Narantuyaa. Leave now, child.” Naran strolled back the way she had come, thinking about her promise while tracing the snow leopard mark on the crystal with her finger. “I’m going to study hard and become an important government official. Then I will be able to change the snow leopards’ fate,” Naran silently vowed to herself. “I’ll never ever forget my promise to Nyra!” Then she pictured the scene that night: her bossy sister Sarangerel demanding to see the crystal at once; her mother spellbound, seeing such a precious jewel; her father surprised, wrinkling his forehead, frowning in concentration, inspecting the crystal and then declaring it a good way to earn extra money. But Narantuyaa was determined not to have the crystal sold – she didn’t want to forget her promise.

* * *

February 2013

Narantuyaa was gingerly placing her snow leopard coat on a chair in her apartment in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. She had just gone to a meeting with President . That night as she was searching for an important document in her storage room, a crystal tumbled out from the tallest shelf onto the carpet along with the document. Naran picked up the crystal. It was delicate, and its many facets reflected the light like a diamond. Where had she gotten this? And then the past dawned on her. Nyra. Her promise. The snow leopards! “Oh!” Naran cried out. “Oh, how foolish I have been! All those animal fur coats! Am I too late to save my dear snow leopards now?” The next day, Naran called for her private jet and directed the pilot to land it in the Gobi Desert, where the snow leopards lived. She dashed to the snow leopards’ cave, which she had once visited as a young child. A single snow leopard lay on the cave ground. Its body was covered with old wounds and a recent gash on its side was bleeding ceaselessly. Narantuyaa crouched next to it. “I am Nightshade,” the snow leopard rasped. “Are you Narantuyaa, the girl?” “…Yes…why is there only one of you? Are there more snow leopards?” Naran asked anxiously. “I am the only one left. Some were trapped by hunters wanting their fur, or died of hunger.” “How did you get your scars?” Naran queried. “I was like a fugitive, fleeing from one place to another. I had to hide from the hunters, while trying to feed my breed. There isn’t much prey anymore, either…” Nightshade’s head drooped and her eyes rolled. “Nightshade!” Naran embraced the snow leopard in a tight hug. “Oh, what can I do to save you?” “You did not keep your promise to Nyra,” Nightshade murmured with her eyes closed. “No! Oh, I should have remembered! I am a government official, I should have stopped the hunting! I should have done something!” Naran wept. “It is too late,” Nightshade said simply, collapsing into Naran’s lap. “No!” Naran screamed, sobbing and sobbing into Nightshade’s spotted fur. Outside the cave, leaves rustled in the howling wind, echoing the snow leopard’s last words: It is too late. It is already too late.

* * *

There were many snow leopards but here not one remains, The last, the remnants, the very last stains. When a promise is first spoken, It should never be broken. But humans always forget Their promises, which brings the promised one great regret That he ever trusted his friend. Sometimes we are too late; Death decrees the tapestry to be cut; we could have done something, but we did not; now it is too late; now we must accept our fate. The Myth of the Gobi Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Pang Ching Sang, Fiction: Group 2

lank!” Daniel the archaeologist felt his hoe hit something solid. Together with his friends, “ they dug out an ancient stele in the Gobi Desert. On the stele, a myth of the Gobi Desert was written… In a time so long ago that no one remembers, it was a breathtaking place here that Cwas no worse than heaven, with the skies and rivers as blue as sapphires and joyful, blessed people, and this place was called Gobi. But it was never the same again when the vicious wizard Matalion arrived with his ferocious dinosaur pets. They conquered and started to destroy the place by murdering people in his ruthless ways. The wizard spoiled his dinosaurs by letting them live wherever they desired and devouring people as snacks. As time went by, the people could no longer stand the cannibalistic torture. They decided to elect Isalonis to resist Matalion and his dinosaurs. As the son of a giant and the Goddess of Freeze, Isalonis was immensely mighty, with muscular arms and legs, and a long neck as well. While on his way to fight Matalion and his dinosaurs, Isalonis spotted and rescued an elderly man who was about to die of hunger. The elderly man was very grateful. He told Isalonis that ahead of them, there was a forest of monstrous, meat-eating vines that ate anything that came their way and warned Isalonis that the vines could only be killed by fire and nothing else. Isalonis thanked the elderly man and he soon came the forest. The vines shot out and coiled around him and began to gnaw on his flesh with their razor-sharp teeth. Isalonis drew out his blade and slashed at the vines with all his might. Yet no matter how he hewed on the vines, they kept resuscitating and growing back. As Isalonis was struggling with the vines, he caught a glimpse of a burning brand that was lying on the ground. The old man’s advice flashed into his mind and his hope burst out like flames. He stretched out his arm desperately to reach for the brand; closer and closer it went, closer and closer…and at last, he was able to grip the burning brand! With a mighty sweep, he set the vines on fire burnt them to ashes. After numerous days of travelling, he arrived at Matalion’s palace. As he was about to walk into the palace, the guards blocked him and bellowed rudely, “Do you know this is the palace of the great wizard Matalion? How dare you try to barge in!” While he was hopelessly muddling with the guards, a somber cold voice floated over. “Come in, Isalonis. I have been waiting for you,” Matalion uttered, sitting on a throne made of onyx. Dressed in charcoal-black robes sewn in rubies redder than burning flames, his pallid oval face looked more demonic than ever in the icy-blue flames that flickered on his throne. He glanced at him grimly, smiling in a way that gave people the chills and sent shivers down their spines. Isalonis declared courageously, “Matalion, stop torturing the people and get out of here!” Matalion’s slanted ivy green eyes flared up in rage, but his thin lips gradually curved into a cruel grin. “Then what if I say no?” Isalonis stepped forward and stared into Matalion’s eyes boldly, “Let us make a deal: your dinosaurs will me around Gobi and if they manage to catch me, I will be their prey and all my treasures will be yours; but if I win, you will have to leave.” Matalion’s eyes narrowed, his slender fingers tapping on the dazzling golden handle of the throne, “A deal? No one has ever attempted a deal with me. Your deal is considered.” Then with a flick of his fingers, a glimmering ray of purple lightning shot out, struck the cage door and it burst open. The dinosaurs stormed out and their roars made the ground quiver and rocks tumble into the air. Their eyes grew crimson in greed as their gaze fixed upon Isalonis. Isalonis turned around and darted away like a bolt of lightning. “Thump! Thump!” as the dinosaurs fell to the ground in exhaustion, Isalonis stretched out his long neck, and gulped up a mouthful of water. As he scampered, he gazed at the rivers and lakes that he had drunk. As he was the son of a giant, he was also a massive man and needed a lot of water to keep on running. Gradually, many dinosaurs perished of hunger and exhaustion. Slowly, the decaying dinosaur remains sank into the lakes and underneath the sand while minerals gathered in the titchy holes in their bones, which eventually turned into the Gobi Desert dinosaur fossils. Eventually, Isalonis was the only one left. He was no better than the dinosaurs as he had drunk up all the water of Gobi. He was extremely feeble that his body was swayed from side by side, and he felt as he would collapse any second. He smiled. He knew he was going to die, but he did not regret what he had done. His vision began to blur, and as death approached, he fell to the ground and soon, darkness overcame him… “My son! My son!” the Goddess of Freeze howled in pain when she was told of Isalonis’s death. She stumbled to the corpse and fell to her knees wailing when she found the composed smile on his lips. As she wept over her son, she glared at the terrified Gobi people in rancor. “I will turn Gobi into a cold dessert as punishment for being the accomplices of my son’s death in electing him to go against Matalion for you! Ha…ha…” Laughing insanely, she disappeared, leaving her mournful laughter echoing in the cold winds of Gobi… Tale of the Tribesman Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Yau Hazelle Nevada, Fiction: Group 2

nce when I was young, I visited the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. It was not a very popular place to live in, all sand and prickly plants, so terribly hot in the day yet so horribly freezing at night, so I was mostly alone with my jeep. After driving for several days and not finding any snake-free shelter, I started to get thirsty. I looked in my water sack and Odrank the last few drops. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, my jeep broke down, leaving me stranded in a desert with nothing but wild animals and dunes of sand. My only hope of survival was to find an oasis or to reach the local people before we perished. Then, out of the blue, an ancient man walked up to me. He was probably over a hundred years old, his long beard reaching down and tangling round his knees. He was also quite bald, with only a few silvery hairs remaining on his head. His clothes were very strange, for it seemed as if they were made from the skin of a black tailed gazelle. He hobbled towards me curiously, cocking his head like a dog. “Do you know the way to the locals, or to a place with some water?” I asked him. He pondered for a moment then made his way among some plants that looked like nettles. He then stopped and scratched his head, as if he didn’t understand. “I will take you to Crescent Lake,” he finally announced in a croaking voice. “There you may drink your fill and remember the fallen ones.” “Who are the fallen ones?” I questioned him curiously. The old man cocked his head again, started walking slowly and began his tale. “It was long ago, when I was a wee lad, helping my friends in the tribe to collect food. It was a memorable day, for we had caught two fat polecats and were going back to the campsite with our chief, Long An. Then, a man who introduced himself as a fallen angel appeared before us and asked for a place to stay. Long An didn’t believe in such sissy stuff, none of us did at that time, and he laughed at the angel. Suddenly, Long An’s mood changed and he briskly led the angel across the desert sands. It was then that we truly believed he was an angel.” “Our camp was just a little bit of grassland with nettles on one end and sand dunes closely packed tightly together on the other, so it was quite safe from wild animals. Anyway, we asked him where he came from, and as if his answer were helpful to us, he replied, ‘I am one of the angels of paradise. Can you tell me where the jungle is?’” “Of course we didn’t know where it was, since the Gobi was miles and miles away from any large-scaled jungle as far as we knew. Not wanting to upset him too much by telling him that there never was a jungle here, Long An simply said, ‘The jungle was gone long ago.’ Then he turned to the matters of making dinner.” “While I was pushing dinner around in the fire with my stick, our huntsmen picked up rocks and sharpened their stone knives. Our ladies and their children picked up fine, grass-woven baskets and plucked some herbs from the ground, singing as they worked. When dinner was ready, I ripped the polecat apart, sprinkled on some herbs and gave little pieces of meat to everyone in the camp. Long An threw an extra piece into the fire as an offering to the gods, and we all began to eat. I soon noticed that the angel wasn’t devouring his meat like everyone else was. Instead, he was muttering something strange under his breath, though I didn’t pay much attention to that. I was too busy gobbling up my own meat.” “Soon after the tribe had gone to sleep, the angel arose, his wings and halo showing clearly despite the darkness of the night. I had stayed awake to observe our divine visitor. He walked silently and smoothly through the bushes of nettles while I followed painfully behind. At a certain point, he stopped and raised his arms and a portal opened up. I followed him as he stepped through, and a world of spinning clouds swallowed us entirely.” “At the other end of the portal, a battle scene met our eyes. Angels with halos like my own friend were fighting creatures of the darkness. Then, a strange person slammed his staff on the ground, and the angels turned into nettles, waving in the breeze. As I know now, that person was the Incubus.” “He was clothed in black, with a cape swirling around him. He wore a magnificent mask carved from jade, with precious gems rimming the sides. Everything on him was black, except for the mask, which contained intricate patterns that drew my admiring gaze and at that moment, I thought he was beautiful.” “Suddenly, the Incubus raised his staff and pointed it at the nettles, which were waving around frantically.” “‘No!’ my angel screamed, launching himself over the cliff, scrabbling at the Incubus. As their bodies met, there was a blinding flash of light, then an explosion. The evil creatures fled into the darkness of the earth, screeching in fright. In a split second, the battle was over, with only a little lake in the shape of a crescent moon left behind.” By the time the old man finished his story, we had arrived at Crescent Lake. The man whispered in my ear, “Remember, remember the tale of Crescent Lake,” and he breathed his last breath, collapsing in my arms. Years have passed. Though I am still uncertain whether his story is true or not, one thing he said is definitely right. Dear reader, we must remember those who have sacrificed for us, those who bear the mark of the angel. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Diocesan Preparatory School, Cheung Chun Hei Maurice, Fiction: Group 2

t was a hot day, the sun was so hot that it peeled your skin. But it did not stop the Smith family from venturing into the hot, dry Gobi Desert. (Music) ‘We are going on a summer holiday……’ the Smith family was enjoying the music and the beautiful sand dunes. The roar of the engine was drowned by the heavy music, Istealing away the silence of the desert. Every wild animal was awakened by the loud engine and the piercing sound of the music. Startled, the rats turned on their backs in anger and ran across the sand dunes. Far away from the happy family, on the tall mountains of the Desert, a huge bear was sleeping soundly. This was unusual as Gobi bears are not very big. The bear’s fur was shaggy and grey and he had the foulest odour imaginable. The bear had been asleep for decades and had not been exposed to humans or woken up since 1945. The Smiths were one of the first humans to enter the Gobi desert in the 21st century. The bear was awakened by their presence. The Smiths were in danger because this bear could speak and had an army of millions of bears with guns. Its name was Adolf Bear. The family was not aware of what was ahead of them. Mr Smith was driving through the hot desert, on his left sat his wife, Catherine. At the back were the Smith children, James and Mary. They were chatting and laughing and their cheerful sound echoed across the grand valley. Mr Smith was driving faster than usual. He could not wait to meet his friend, Ben, who lived in the western part of the desert. Everything was fine until Mary shouted excitedly, ‘Look, dad! Look at the golden rocks!’ Mr Smith looked around to see what happened. There were six golden rocks standing in the sun. He drove up to the rocks to have a closer look. ‘If it’s gold, I’ll be a billionaire!’ The moment he touched the glittering gold rocks they shattered into hundreds of golden scorpions. They had two big claws and a long body attached to a swinging tail. Mr Smith jumped back in fright. Mr Smith ran for his life. The scorpions rolled themselves into hundreds of golden balls and were rolling after him at great speed. As he ran, beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks, he could feel his heart pounding as he tried to catch his breath. When he got into the car, he quickly drove away from the scorpions. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Mrs Smith. ‘Scor……scorpions!’ Mr Smith stammered. James shouted, ‘We have to get rid of these scorpions, we could go that way, but look, Dad!” He pointed towards a small tornado, which was travelling slowly, it seemed even more dangerous. Mr Smith nodded grimly. ‘It’s worth a try, it may not hit us.’ The tornado approached them slowly. It sounded hungry and angry and howled like a wolf. Within seconds the family found themselves spinning in the air as the fierce tornado engulfed them as if the car was a toy. The family screamed in fright as they were thrown around inside of the car like chocolates in a box. The speed of the tornado tore the car in half separating the boys from the girls. The girls were hurled out of the tornado and soared across the sky like arrows. The boys were tossed out of the tornado in a completely different direction and plunged to the ground with a fierce thump. They were knocked out. When they woke up, they were in Winston Snow Leopard Churchill’s office. His name was on the door. ‘This is not the Gobi Desert, where are we?’ asked Mr Smith in a panic. James pointed at the snow leopard that sat before them. ‘Look, there’s a snow leopard!’ The snow leopard grunted, ‘What are you doing here and what do you want?’ ‘Help me get my family back,’ Mr Smith begged the leopard. ‘I know where your family is, I saw something fly across this sky towards the direction of the Bear Army.’ The leopard took them to Gobi Germany, which was not far away. Mrs Smith and her daughter were very frightened. A bear circled them marching up and down. This was the bear they disturbed when they drove into the desert. He sat down and thought for a moment and ordered, ‘Take them to the execution area!’ And he laughed coldly at their horrified faces. In the execution area, two gigantic bears with axes walked into the clearing. They pushed the girls to the wall and brought their axes down…… Suddenly, there were two gunshots and the bears fell down. Mr Smith ran towards them with a gun in his hand. He pulled his wife and daughter behind him to the place where Churchill was hiding. A Booby Trap awaited them, a huge net trapped the three Smiths and the leopard. The bears pulled the net and threw them into prison. As the Smiths were still pitying themselves, Adolf Bear smiled coldly, he thought to himself, ‘The Smiths and Churchill are caught, no one knows the secret that I am still alive!’ He was still thinking about this when he heard sounds of cannons and planes. The huge bear marched out to see the British Snow Leopards and The American Eagles advancing towards his much smaller army! At the head of the colours was James sitting with Roosevelt the Bald Eagle. Adolf had forgotten all about James! It was a long, hard fight, but the Bear Army was eventually defeated. The Allies captured Adolf and freed the captives in the bear’s concentration camp. Churchill and Roosevelt gave gifts to James and the Smiths and the Gobi Desert was finally freed from evil. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Diocesan Preparatory School, Wan Man Yin, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, a boy named Bryan survived a plane crash in the middle of the Gobi Desert, but his parents didn’t. After crying over his parents, he got his backpack and tried to find food and water from the ruins of the plane. In the end, he managed to find some snacks and a few bottles of water. Putting the food into his backpack, he walked Othrough the desert to escape, but soon got lost in the vast ocean of sand. Even worse, he soon finished up his food and water. Very soon, Bryan began to feel thirsty and hungry. He felt lonely and miserable. Finally, in one night, Bryan could not withstand the chilly night and fell down. Bryan dreamed that a troop of army was walking through the desert and had seen him. But they did not come to help him. Later, a merchant walked by him, but the merchant just glanced at him but did not stop and continued on his journey. After a while, a poor man with a bony camel came, and when he saw the half-dead child, he felt sorry for him. Quickly he placed the child on his camel and went to the nearest shelter. He gave the landlord all he had, a few coins and the poor camel. He told the landlord to look after the poor boy. The landlord declined the camel and asked the poor man to take it back. He promised to take care of the boy until he recovered. After that, the poor man walked away with the camel. At that moment, the boy woke up. He found himself lying on a soft bed made of the finest cotton. Bryan saw a wooden table with lots of food on it. What’s more, he was in a warm and bright airy room. He quickly ran out of the room and asked the landlord,’’ Who bought me here?’’ The landlord replied, “A man saw you lying on the sand, right in the middle of a sandstorm. He saved you and gave me money to give you a place to live.” As soon as he heard that, Bryan ran out of the inn. He followed the camel footprints looking for his saviour. Eventually, he found the poor man. He was called Ben.He helped Bryan to find his uncle in the market. They met regularly and became best friends. One hot and sunny day, Ben and Bryan were chatting and walking the camel in the market. Suddenly, Ben tripped over something round and shiny. Bryan dug it up and saw that it was a dinosaur egg. “Look what we have found!” The man exclaimed. Together they loaded the egg onto the small camel. They were planning to go sell it when they heard a voice, “Oi! Quickly, dig them up!” “Oh No!“ Ben shouted, “Bandits!” “They want dinosaur eggs?” Bryan gasped. He took a deep breath so that he could try to relax, but he breathed in the sand instead. Bryan coughed out the sand and spluttered. Ben whined. Ben froze because of a sound, “Don’t move!” Ben and Bryan could hear intruders coming up. They panicked. At that moment, the poor man carried Bryan and jumped onto his camel and left. The bandits followed them and shot at them. “Do you have any weapons to fight with?” Bryan asked, “We need them!’’ The man did not answer him. He just kept on protecting the egg and steering the camel. At that moment, something caught his eyes. No, it was not the bandits. “A sand dune!” Bryan screamed. Fwoosh! They shot out of the sand dune and fell heads first onto the sand. The man gestured Bryan to keep quiet and lie down. Bryan did what he told him. While they were lying down, they heard a lot of footsteps. About an hour later, he rose up from the sand. Bryan looked around and saw a wide sea spreading right from the distance. Out there, he saw a huge cargo ship. Without telling the man, the boy waved to the ship and when it drew near, Bryan asked the captain to ship them back home. In return, the man would give him the camel. The kind captain agreed with him and took them back to their home. When they returned home, they became rich businessmen by selling the egg for a good price. With the money, both of them started a business. With their hard work and good effort, they became rich and bought houses for themselves. They also donated money to the poor and charity organisations. They lived together happily and became best friends forever. Journey Across the Desert Discovery College, Maelee Baron, Fiction: Group 2

Beyond the desert in the far horizon there lay a scroll of ancient words a mystery each one.

Puffing and panting Araya and his grandson Kroy wandered through the hot dry sand of the Ghobi Desert with only one goal in mind; finding water. ‘Only a few hot days and a few cold nights’ Kroy thought as he gazed into the blurred emptiness of the desert. All he could see was hot, red sand and………. Everything in Kroy’s mind went blank and for those 2 seconds of thought Kroy suddenly sensed something was wrong. Kroy looked up at Araya as if to say “Did you feel that too?” but soon realized the answer was a simple ‘no’, because Araya was still walking towards their destination, the two sand hills that slope inwards as if leaning over to touch one and other. Kroy found these mountains very interesting and every year he and his grandfather passed these mountains. He often asked questions like “Why do the mountains slope inwards?” and was often annoyed that the answer was simply “Some questions are not worth being answered.” At times Kroy, wondered what this meant? And why his grandfather would not answer his question?. But all question and thought was lost as a sudden pang of thirst hit Kroy, as if the world had stopped moving and time was frozen. Kroy had had this feeling many times before but never as intense as this. When the pain went away Kroy, realized that Araya, was standing above Kroy in what seemed to be a cave but instead of rock walls and a rock roof the roof and walls seemed to be made out of sand. As Araya helped Kroy to sit up Kroy heard a noise, a sort of rushing noise coming from below his feet as Kroy looked down to where the noise seemed to be coming from, he saw a stream with fresh water running in and out the cave splashing at his face as he knelt down to have a sip. Kroy turned to his wise grandfather, at a loss for words as if the wind had taken his voice and hidden it deep inside him. Araya, rushed for some odd reason said “Now hurry to your feet, we must move further into the cave, quick!” This was very unusual for Kroy because he had always known his grandfather, Araya, to be wise and slow. As they journeyed further into the cave Kroy noticed mysterious markings in the walls as if some one had been there, in that very spot before. Kroy noticed that the light at the mouth of the cave seemed to slowly fade away. Wondering where exactly they were going Kroy softly asked his grandfather where they were going and the reply was somehow confusing yet understandable. This was the reply exactly… “When I was young, about your age I journeyed through these deserts taking the same confusing path. On the day that we found our stream of water my grandfather gave me this.” He held up what seemed to be a map and with his two old, worn out hands pointed out where they were and what was left of their long journey. Araya explained to Kroy that long ago these two mountains used to be two castles one for the King and one for the Queen. Then there came a sand storm and both castles were buried. The King took charge of the situation and decided to knock down one castle and replace it with a mountain of sand so that anyone who wished to steal their treasures shall have to find the scroll that showed the way first. “ If I am correct we should find a door that leads to the castle around about here, Araya pointed ahead at the end of the cave. From the little light left Kroy could make out a door, a big, oak door. As Kroy and his grandfather carefully walked through the oak door kroy noticed a sudden light and a sudden feeling of joy. Kroy fought the pain in his eyes from the light well enough to make out mounds of coins, treasure and paper- paper? Kroy thought as he rushed towards the old, torn paper. When Kroy looked carefully at each one he realized that they looked similar, but different to the one his grandfather had shown him. “Grandfather come here, quick!” he called as his grandfather, who had just been admiring the golden statues came running towards him “This is amazing!” he yelled as if there were millions of people in the same room there and then listening to every word they said. The grandson-grandfather team rushed out of the room wondering what the journey ahead would be like. The worst winter break ever… Discovery College, Ellen Gasser, Fiction: Group 2

his is the worst winter break ever! My name’s Valerie, I’m ten and a twin sister. I know what you are all thinking, awesome! You guys can talk to each other through telepathy. But I’ll tell you, it’s nothing like that at all with Vanessa. It could be, but it’s not. Ever since we’ve been small, Vanessa has always done everything better than me. I have wavy Tblack hair, and emerald green eyes. Vanessa has straight blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She is everybody’s darling and everyone just ignores me. So, that’s why she became my worst nightmare. Since our parents are rich, every time Vanessa wins something like a spelling competition, she get’s to pick a gift. This time she wanted to go to the Gobi Desert because she wanted to learn about their traditions. Anyways, now we’ve landed, this is just sad. “Valerie, hurry up! Don’t keep us waiting!” My “mother” calls out. “Whatever!” I call. “Valerie!” “I’m coming.” I pack up my stuff and leave. First we had to take a bus and a rough camel ride until we arrived at the hotel. I realized it wasn’t much of a hotel. Instead there were small dumpy beige houses or tent things. I hated it. At least I had one tent to myself. I thought we would get time to settle in, meaning eating and sleeping, but no. Immediately after we unpacked we had to go to “explore!” We trekked from our tents to sand dunes. Away from civilization. Yay! Exactly what I wanted. NOT. My family were somewhere behind me, while I had my phone whipped out in front of me, looking for network. I turned around, hugging myself because of the cold. Instantaneously, my eyes widened. My family wasn’t there anymore. The temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees; it was terribly cold. I was alone, no one, not even Vanessa was anywhere in sight. I turned around again, running towards the place I had last been. By now, I had no idea where I was. Had I come from the left? Or the right? My heartbeat quickened, so fast it pained my chest. My eyes started to water. No, I would not let that happen. “Valerie?” I knew that voice. Dad! I got up and hugged him. “Where did you go? Vanessa and your mother returned to the tent.” He said hugging me back. We turned and stared at the ground in front of us. There was a shadow. It was big, and fat, its head was very small but wide, there were small, blunt horns on top of it, yet we both couldn’t recognize what it was. Dad looked down at me, signaling for me to be quiet. I heard it creep forward. It’s footsteps making a terrible noise, giving us more evidence that the creature would be heavy or fat. Suddenly, the footsteps were lighter, as if it lost weight. I turned around abruptly, only to gasp at what I saw. This creature was Vanessa. The blood drain from my cheeks, my eyes widened even more. Vanessa swaggered towards me, “I don’t need you. No one cares about you, no one at all.” She hissed. A lone tear fell down my cheek. Dad turned around now. I looked up at Vanessa and blinked, she wasn’t there anymore. There, stood a huge green, king cobra. What had just happened? The cobra slithered hissing slightly towards dad. I turned a bit, and looked it straight in the eyes. Its form flickered. There stood Vanessa, wait, the cobra, no, Vanessa. What was this awful creature? “Valerie, turn and run now!” Dad’s voice seemed extremely scared, the cobra started coming towards him. We turned and ran as fast as we could. We ran until we could run no more, straight into my tent. I was breathing heavily. “What was that?” I asked, my heart rate calming. “I don’t know.” My dad said. Suddenly, he hugged me. “But, don’t listen to a word it said. We all love you. You mustn’t believe what the monster said, Valerie!” He demanded. “Okay, okay I won’t, I promise.” I said, holding my hands up. “That’s good.” He muttered, then stood and walked out. The next day we were visiting an indigenous family, called the Chinbat’s. Mother, loudly exclaimed that they would be telling us about old traditions and tales. Now, here we were, sitting at a round table with the Chinbat’s, when the father, “Deleger Chinbat” started talking. “There is the great legend of the polymorph.” He said, voice thick with accent. “ It all began with Aruinbold. He was a great warrior who wanted to show people that he was the best. So, he created a monster. Long days, and nights he spent in his quarters, trying to make it. In the end he died from what he had created.” “The what?” Vanessa asked. “A shape shifter, you might call it.” He paused, “it turns into your worst nightmare, the thing you fear the most.” The gears started turning in my head. “There is only one way to defeat it, a small defect.” “What? What defect?” I demanded from him. “Confuse it.” He whispered. Together, we hatched a plan to stop the Polymorph. Now it was in front of us, we had found it, in the desert. Flickering from form to form; Vanessa, king cobra, giant spider, clowns, a scarecrow and back again. It looked me in the eye; it stayed Vanessa and advanced on me. “Don’t you dare! That’s my sister!” That was Vanessa’s voice, but it wasn’t coming from the monster. My real sister came into view. She shouted, “You have no right, to do this. I hate you. I love my sister. Don’t make her feel bad. You disgust me!” The fake her became smaller and smaller, until it was gone. Vanessa came running to hug me. At that moment, I knew I was loved. TALES OF THE GOBI DESERT Discovery College, Percival Hill, Fiction: Group 2

2nd of July 1866 Hatchet House

‘Dear Hank, I need you to cross the Gobi Desert for me; it’s a matter of life and death. Thanks, Edward.’

That’s what the letter read. I’m Hank, Hank Hatchet, and I am the most famous desert trekker in the world. People always come and ask me to walk right in to deadly deserts. Right now I have been dared to trek the most deadly desert on earth: THE GOBI DESERT! People say that it takes 5 months to get through alive and only one person dared to go: Nifty Thrifty, AKA N.T., a thief, to get away from police officers but got caught on his way out. I am to be the first non-thief to venture in and out, one side to the other. I can see the headline right now: ‘HANK HATCHET FIRST MAN TO REACH THE HEART OF THE GOBI’

1st of June 1867 Big/Huge Chariot

I am on my way to the Gobi Desert in this Big/Huge Chariot and I am not the only person on board unfortunately. It is very cramped and I have no space to breathe. This was the start of a three-year journey, from England to China to the middle of the Gobi desert.

27th of December 1869 Gobi

At last I’m in the middle of the desert. The sand dunes are so big. Bigger than the Chrysler Building, I think. I am hiding in a cave so I am safe from all the monsters that roam this wasteland. With a hard day ahead of me, I wish I would make it to the other side.

29th of December 1869 Gobi

Yesterday a gang of bandits attacked me and they took all of my food and now I wish to get to the other side quickly. If N.T. could do it, so can I!

1st of January 1870 Gobi

Again, I saw the bandits from atop a huge dune. I could tell that they had just robbed another person because there was singing dancing and cheering. As I watched them pass, I thought one of them spotted me because he stopped, tapped another, and pointed in my direction. I ducked just in time, I can tell because when I looked again they were on their way. I was relieved at this. I am still starving!

21st of February 1870 Gobi Phew, another close encounter with another gang of bandits, I nearly lost my skin when I came Shortlisted

Shifting Sands Discovery College, Mia Mueller, 9

ello Father.” said Alex Hougland who just came home. “ “Hi Alex,” said Alex’s father, Erik Hougland quietly. He was a very restless man, his wife died in a car crash when Alex was two. That changed his life forever. Alex had now finished college and was ready to start a new Hlife. He still longed for a relationship with his father. One night when his Father was sleeping, Alex crept into his Father’s study and picked up a piece of paper filled with scribbles. He held his candle up to it and read some of his notes. At first, it didn’t make any sense because he didn’t know what it was about, so he continued reading. He realised that his father was writing about his trip to the New Gobi Desert. He was shocked. “How could he do this to me?” he thought, “Is he committing suicide or something?” He had a thousand questions in his head. Did he even know that it was the most dangerous desert in the world? There were sandstorms every couple of hours and snakes with venomous bites! Most of all, there were pyramids that looked beautiful and lured you inside, only to find yourself in a twisting tunnel, unable to come out. He read some more. All of a sudden, he turned white and froze; he saw the date when his father would leave at the top of the page. It said, “ Twenty-fourth of April 1960- but that’s tomorrow!” It was 11:00 at night and he had to do something fast. He paced back and forth in his father’s study and picked up the piece of paper and saw what he needed for the trip. He loved his father, and didn’t want him to die. He stared at the paper, for it was the most important decision of his life. He checked where to meet his tour guide. It hit him. If he did this, he would save his Father’s life and would appreciate him more. Ever since his mother died, his father lost interest in him and was never able to look him in the eye. He decided to prove himself to his father. He left a note on the dining table, telling where he had gone. He quickly, but quietly crept into the storage room, packed what he needed and was ready to meet up with his tour guide at the town square. He was scared but determined. He clutched his paper, took a last look at his house and was gone. At the Town Square, he found the tour guide that his father had hired. “Hello Mr. Erik Hougland.” Greeted Fred. “Um, hi”, Alex answered. “Please call me Fred, Mr. Hougland”, Fred replied confidently. “Ok, you can call me Al… oh wait, Erik”. He struggled to say. Arriving at the desert, Fred bought three camels; one for Alex, one for himself, and one for luggage. They loaded the camels and got ready to travel. For the rest of the journey, they went through the desert slowly, cautious not to be harmed by dangerous animals. Upon reaching the campsite, they tied up their camels, scrambled into their tents and slept. Morning came. They were ready to explore what Alex’s father had organized. Before they went into the pyramid, they took pictures of the animals they saw. Alex realized that the animals were poisonous, but were scared of the camels, so they were safe. Later, they were ready to explore the dangerous pyramid, The Pyramid of Cheops. It looked extraordinary, but deadly. Its beauty and color lures you inside. It looks deceivingly small, but once inside, there are about twenty tunnels to choose from. They tied their camels in front of the pyramid. Then they slowly walked in. They went down a corridor and lit their torches. Right in front of them was a choice of twenty treacherous tunnels. All of the tunnels were painted with beautiful pictures of the olden times and it was easy to understand the amazing story they were trying to tell. Alex and Fred went into a tunnel together as their eyes traced the pictures on the wall. They lost track of time until a problem came along that would put their lives at stake… Suddenly they realized that they had lost each other. “Where am I?” they both thought as they looked around. They called each other’s names, but it was no use. They were both truly lost, there was no escape. They had been there for days now and were both ever so thirsty. Alex called Fred’s name once more and fainted on the hard, cold ground. “Alex? Alex? Are you awake?” Alex woke up to the sound of Fred’s voice echoing in his head. “Your Father is outside waiting for you”. Alex woke up, stunned to hear that his Father was outside. He had so many questions… “How did he get here? Is he mad? Is he not?” Fred helped Alex get up and gave him a jug of water. Alex drank it quickly. He followed Fred outside the pyramid and was relieved to see the sunlight shining on him. Right before him was the one and only Erik Hougland. “Father!” Alex shouted as he ran towards his dad. “My dear boy!” Mr. Hougland said as Alex reached him. They hugged each other tight to their chests. Then the most amazing thing happened to Alex. His father looked at him in the eye and started smiling. But soon his smile slowly started to fade. “You remind me a lot of your Mother. Her face sometimes haunts me because she is no longer in this world.” Alex thought about it for a minute and realized, that’s why he always looks away from me! It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate me! His father looked puzzled that Alex looked so happy and then smiled. “Let’s walk home, my boy.” Alex nodded in approval, and they slowly faded into the distance like Father and Son forever. around a dune and found a load of bandits with swords and other weapons. I walked back slowly then broke in to a run. I did some math’s to soothe my brain. I thought about writing a book, and here it is!

1st of March 1870 Edge of Gobi

I am still in the desert and for some strange reason I saw lanterns far in the distance and also the outlines of the tiny buildings. I hope to get to the other side before April 1st.

13th of March 1870 Edge of Gobi/Tiny Village

At last I have finished my quest! I was tired and hungry so I went to the local pub and said to the owner “I have just crossed the Gobi Desert.” And he said to me “Have everything for free my friend!” so I had a huge supper and a long sleep.

14th of March 1870 Local Pub/Tiny Village

I woke up, got dressed and went down stairs for a big breakfast. I was soon on my way back to my beautiful Hatchet House and my wife, Elizabeth Hatchet.

16th of February 1874 Hatchet House

I am in my comfortable bed with my wife who has just had a child, a boy. We have decided on the name and the boy is called James, James Hatchett. The Last Flight Discovery College, Krijn Toor, Fiction: Group 2

kept on hearing the steady drumming of the motor, and thought, I do not want to be here. I clenched my teeth. I want to be back home. Where everything was normal. I thought back to how it was before Dad got moved from Seoul. We were a happy family there, a big house, nice school, Dad had a good job. We were happy there. But then ING went bankrupt in ISeoul. Dad was broken. We, as expats, were forced to move back to the Netherlands. Back to the rain. Back to the cold. Forced back into the person that I was before. To the person I chose not to be... I breathed in the metallic air of the airplane and closed my eyes hoping that when I opened my eyes, I would be back at Seoul International School, with my best friends, John and Kallik. I opened my eyes. I was still in the airplane. I opened the aircraft window, trying to distract myself. I blinked for a few seconds at the harsh, unnatural light flooding out of the window. After my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I gazed down and let my eyes meet the breathtakingly beautiful landscape folding out in front of me. I heard a static burst, and my mind came back to the present. I turned to the speaker and heard the metallic speaker projecting the captains voice; “ We are now flying over the North-Eastern Tibetan Plateau. I expect we will be landing in 7 to 8 hours. Our flight attendant will be coming through to you as soon as possible with drinks and food. We are having slight turbulence at the moment, but it is expected to end soon. Please enjoy the rest of the flight with Korean Air.” I tried to rest, and my eyelids grew heavy. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. I had the feeling that it was more than a few seconds. When I opened my eyes from my slight sleep, I looked straight into a oxygen mask. I heard the pilots and the flight attendants screaming; “Keep calm! Put on the oxygen masks!” But I could hear that they were trying to calm themselves as well as the passengers. But somehow, it all went slowly into my head, as if it was all on another planet. Then I snapped back into reality. We were crashing. The “slight” turbulence had grown. We were crashing. I immediately put on the oxygen mask. I curled up in a ball. Then the impact came. It was a shock that went straight thought my body. I thought I was dead. When I thought the crash was over, I dared to look up again. The plane was in ruins. I immediately started looking for my mom and dad. I shouted; “Mom! Dad!” No reply. I franticly searched the wreak. “Mom! Dad! Are you there?” Still no reply. They were dead. I had to face the truth. I was the last survivor. I wanted to cry out in agony. Everything I love, or had loved, was dead or gone. I had to get out of the wreck. I choked in the smoke and tried to get up. I felt a sharp pain shooting through my leg and looked down. I had cut myself on a piece of torn metal. I struggled out of the plane wreck, slowly and painfully. I scrambled over the wreck and looked around me. The beautiful landscape that I had seen from above now looked like a barren no-mans land. But I had to survive. In the distance I could see the city Altai, which I had seen on the airplane route map. It was north of me, and I made that my target. I would have to cross the Gobi Desert, which would be a challenge, but now my one and only priority was to survive. And nothing more. I put my mind on standby. I had to get to Altai. I was starting to feel hungry. In the airplane, I had skipped the inflight meal. That felt like days ago. I foolishly started running, believing that if I ran long enough, I would reach Altai in no time. Every step felt hurt so much with my wound, that I felt like I was going to faint. I struggled to move in the barren landscape of the Tibetan Plateau. As I ran longer, the ground changed underfoot from grassy to a more rocky, sandy substance. I knew I was making the transition into the Gobi Desert. And, with my few geography lessons, I knew that Altai was in the Gobi Desert. Just as my hope was beginning to rise, I felt a sharp, shocking pain sear up my leg. I looked at my right leg just in time to see an adder swiftly slithering away into the sand. Then it came. First I felt a, not unpleasant tingling in my right leg. Then, slowly, it rose up through my body till my whole body felt it. Then it increased. It went from a slight tingling to a searing pain, as if my body was on fire. I wanted to scream out in pain. It felt like a million knives were carving into my body. Yellow spots started dancing in front of my eyes. I knew this was the end. Suddenly, the pain diminished greatly. I saw Kallik and John, waving at me in Seoul. I saw my parents, also waving at me. Then I saw myself, winning the football tournament, in Seoul. Finally, I saw myself being born. Then, as the images faded away, my eyelids started to feel heavy. I remembered from my lessons that some people have visions before they die. There I was, the last survivor, preparing to die. I could imagine God looking down on me and cruelly laughing and jeering; “There he is, the last survivor, dying” I knew I was about to close my eyes. For the last time. Gobi Desert and the Magic Seed Dulwich College Beijing, Brooke Estes, Fiction: Group 2

n a hot sunny spring afternoon, Jack and his little sister Lucy went to a very old Beijing courtyard restaurant to celebrate their friend’s grandfather’s 100 years old birthday. During the celebration, one of the waitresses gave them a one thousand year old seed. “Here is a seed that has been in my pocket for all my life. I want to give it to you because OI know that you guys are the only ones that I can trust and just to be careful, the seed is very powerful. It could make your dreams come true!” she said in a very delightful voice. “Thank you for the seed we will take good care of it” replied Jack and Lucy. When they got back home with their seed, they are both motivated to fall into a deep sleep because they are eagerly to know how magical the seed will be. In the dream they both heard a cheerful voice saying “Come on! Come on! I will take you to the Gobi desert where you always dreamed of going.” Right away, Jack and Lucy found themselves between two hills that were made out of sand. In the distance, they could barely see a living thing! The sun shone on the brother and sister backs. It is burning hot. Jack and Lucy felt really thirsty. “Lucy, come on, let’s try to walk to a place that we can plant the seed!” he said very excitedly. Jack took the seed out of his pocket and planted in a very sandy hill. Only after few hours, it grew into a humongous tree, its leaves are so big which covered a full football pitch, amazingly, the leaves are full of very juicy drink that when anybody comes passed, they can pick up one to drink and rest underneath. Overjoyed Jack and Lucy ran over to pick one down to drink. The juice tasted very cold, they felt so much better after five cups of apple flavored cold and tasty drink. “How wonderful was that drink! I am full of energy again!” Suddenly they saw two groups of business men on their way to travel across the Gobi desert, to go to china to do their trading. As soon as Jack and Lucy saw those business men they were too happy to find just a person! “Hello! Hello!” Jack and Lucy waved to the business men. All of a sudden the exhausted group turned around and was surprised to see water and green leaves in the middle of a desert. They shouted in their loudest voice they still have and said “We would like to buy some of your cold juice!” “Of course you may since we can see you are very tired and thirsty, you may stay and rest underneath our tree if you wish.” cried Jack. They said thank you and gave the children some money. Jack thought with this money, he could buy a present for their mother’s birthday. By now Jack and Lucy wanted to go home, the cold misty wind blew on their faces and woke them up from their deep dream. They looked at each other and thought they were both in the same dream. Jack checked everywhere in his room but could not find the seed. The Robbers of Gobi Desert Dulwich College Beijing, Cecily Serin Eugenie Gleave, Fiction: Group 2

n the land of the fascinating Gobi desert lived a bunch of thieves robbing people that travelled on the Silk Road. There were three families, and each family had one child. The first family had a girl called Minwei, the second family had a boy called Dong Dong, the last family also had a boy, and his name was Liang Liang. The three families lived close to IDunhuang, a cold, rocky and sandy area. The families managed to live in tents. You could say the tents were not so big, each tent having an area of twenty-meter square. There was one small problem. Whenever the children’s parents went to rob the weary merchants on the Silk Road, the children got lonely. They thought that their parents went off to steal to get away from them. One day the children’s parents went to rob travellers as usual, Minwei, Dong Dong and Liang Liang decided to have a talk about the problem. “I think we should go somewhere else and leave our parents. Maybe go to Dunhuang. After all, it is close.” Suggested Minwei. “It might work.” Agreed Dong Dong. “Come on guys, let’s pack up!” Cried Liang Liang. In a few minutes, the three were on their way to Dunhuang. They left a note to tell their parents that they would be fine. “It’s freezing!” Muttered Dong Dong, walking across the featureless desert. “Be quite! I’m tired of your whining. Are you going to complain throughout the whole trip?” said Minwei, who was getting very pissed off about Dong Dong complaining. “How come you have so much to say, Minwei?” Asked Liang Liang starting to get interested in the conversation. “Girls are just like that, or maybe only girls like me.” Answered Minwei. “Look! Look! A sand storm!” yelled Dong Dong, terrified of what was ahead. The children looked ahead and saw a tremendous sand storm rushing in their way. As the sand storm came towering over them, the children seemed hopeless. Just then Minwei saw a small rock cave big enough for all of them to hide behind. She also remembered the two umbrellas she had packed. “Run to that rock cave!” yelled Minwei “It will keep us safe from the sand storm.” All at once, they ran to the cave. Once they got there, Minwei opened the umbrellas and blocked the entrance of the cave. Sand still got through but it did not bother the children. “That was close. We almost got blown away by a sand storm!” cried Minwei exhausted from crouching down for such a long time. “Look, the sun is setting. Does anybody know what time it is?” said Liang Liang looking at the sun. “It’s five o’clock. We should stay here for the night.” Answered Minwei so it was chosen that the cave was their shelter for the night. Once the sandstorm had blown over, they had put up a shade over the cave’s mouth by getting out a big blanket, attaching one side to the edge of the cave and the other side to two poles at each corner. Then they placed the umbrellas on the sides at the edge of the their cave. “Dinner’s ready, boys!” shouted Minwei into the cave. All of a sudden, the two boys came scrambling out from the rock cave. “We’re having porridge today? That’s disgusting, you know that?” Complained Dong Dong who hated porridge more than anything else. “Would you rather starve?” Asked Minwei. “Nope, I will have the porridge.” Mumbled Dong Dong. After dinner they got out their sleeping bags and went to sleep. In the morning, Dong Dong woke up and realized he woke up last. He saw his friends eating their breakfast while playing “rock scissor paper.” “Why didn’t you guys wake me up?” Asked Dong Dong angrily. “Because we couldn’t, you wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard we tried, you wouldn’t even budge.” Answered Minwei. “Time to go!” Said Liang Liang after breakfast so the children packed up as quickly as possible and started to go to Dunhuang. The children walked and walked until it was dark. As the night fell, they only had the star of the desert to guide them. The star of the desert was a star brighter than all the others. Legend said that the star of the desert guided people to where they wanted to go. Looking up at the bright star over the desert, the children somehow felt protected. Finally, the children were at Dunhuang’s gateway. It was almost dawn so they decided to wait for the gate to open while looking up at the star of the desert. They could see the star growing fainter as the sun rose. It reminded them of the time when they were little, playing with their parents. “You know what? I think we went too far. Our parents were nice to us, we should go back now.” Said Minwei as if it was a good idea. The others heartily agreed that they had gone too far and decided to go back. Meanwhile, their parents desperately waited and waited hoping that their children would come back. All of a sudden, they heard a scuffle just outside their tent. Minwei’s mum went to see what it was. She found Minwei, Dong Dong and Liang Liang waiting by the tent. She pulled them all in and hugged them as tightly as a bear. She then ran to the other parents to tell the news. Once they saw their children, they grew very exited. They played games, drew pictures, sang desert songs and had a feast for the children. The children told the parents tales of their adventure. The next day the parents taught the children how to steal from the merchants going on the Silk Road. Now the children felt as if they were at home, not just any home but a real home. The Magic in Desert Dulwich College Beijing, Julia Lee, Fiction: Group 2

he sky was yellow, the sand storm was attacking Gobi desert again. It was no different than other days. But it felt little different. Well, usually the sand storm was covering Tassana’s friend, Cotria’s house but Tassana could see her house very clearly. But still, Tassana’s mum wouldn’t let her out. “Mum, I think the sand storm is such an evil Tmonster creeping around the desert. Um, what I’m just try to ask is, um, Pretty please, can I go to Cotria’s house?” begged Tassana. “Tassana, I can’t hear you!” Tassana’s mum yelled from the kitchen. Tassana knew it was going take time but still she needed to beg. Because her best friend Cotria told her they have to practice the music. Tassana ran to kitchen in a hurry. “Mum can I go to Cotria’s house? Its right beside ours.” said Tassana. “Well, looks like someone wants to slip in tornado.” Answered mum, still concentrating to cut vegetables. “But mum, it’s no more farther than half a meter.” Begged Tassana. “And I don’t wany to spend my whole life feeling dizzy in tornado! No one want to, I guess. Besides, I need to practice music with Cotria and Kaci…!” “Hey, shush!” yelled Setice, Tassana’s big sister. ”What in world has gotten in to you? Shut up that little mouth Tassana!” Tassana ignored her. It was no good to fight with her sister anyway. “Mum, please~~~~” begged Tassana. “HEY, PEST! SHUT THAT MOUTH I SAID!” “I’M NOT A PEST AND YOU’RE SO BOSSY!” argued Tassana “Setice, that’s rude thing to say to your sister. And since you seem to have a little problem with Setice you can go to Cotria’s house. But back by 7 o’clock Tassana.” Tassana nodded and made face to Setice and ran for a door. “I’ll get you for this, little ratty!” shouted Setice behind her. Tassana ran out or she would get thrashed her cheeks. The wind was cold. It slapped on her dark smooth skin. She wrapped herself tight with a sash, that her friend Delia gave her when she was moving to California. Finally, she reached Cotria’s house. It seemed it was very far away even it was so close. When she held up her hand to knock on the door, she suddenly realized that the practice was on Saturday. She turned around and walked back. Suddenly she discovered a silver tornado coming her way. She gasped and ran fast as she could to Cotria’s house. Just then Cotria and Kacine opened the door. They came out don’t knowing what would happen next. They didn’t realized the tornado. “Tassana! What are you doing here? It’s cold outside.” Kacine said, closing the door. “The, the, to, tor, tor,” said Tassana in a shock. “What?” “The, the, TORNADO!!!” Kacine realized the tornado, “ARRRRRRRRGH!!!” he screamed. They tried to open the door, but it was too late. The tornado wrapped around them. They spun and spun. And before they faint, Tassana opened the eyes. It wasn’t a normal tornado. It was showing everyone’s remembrances. Tassana tried to think about what they were but she stopped. It was too hard to think. Then just one screen got bigger and bigger and they fell then they closed their eyes. When they woke up, they were lying in somewhere in Gobi desert. It was boiling. They stood up and found a tree shade in 2 hours. They lied down and rested themselves. It was silence for a short time. “Where are we?” Cotria started talking. “I don’t know, but I’m sure that it’s somewhere in the desert.” Answered Kacine. “Guys, I don’t think that’s a normal tornado” ”Yeah, it’s one that blew us to another bit of desert,” Kacine said giggling, than he pretended he was the tornado, “Your honor, majesty. ” Than he fell down laughing so hard that he spat on Cotria, “Hey, quit it!” ”Oh guys, I mean I saw everyone’s remembrances in the storm. They were are happy. Then their smile disappeared the same time. What do you think that means?” Said Tassana. “Well, then we can’t stay here. Let’s go.” Answered Kacine. “What? No way! We just found a tree shade!” “Please Cotria, this is our only the chance. Than are you stay here forever?” Cotria couldn’t answer. They walked and walked. Suddenly Cotria fell down.”Cotria! Are you okay?” asked Tilly. “Go……first.” “No we can’t! Kacine, stay with Cotria.” “Tilly ran to other side. Tilly walked and walked. She was tired to. When she fell down something appeared in front of Tilly. It was a DRAGON!! “AAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!” screamed Tilly. She was trying to run away but she couldn’t move. “I am the spirit of remembrances. If you answer my three questions I’ll let you and your friends go home.” “What is it?” “First question is what is the important to human.” Tilly hesitated and said, “Family.” “Right, second question is what is the thing that walks with 4 feet in morning and 2 feet in afternoon and 3 feet in night.” “Easy, it’s human.” Tilly thought this was nothing but so easy until she heard last question. “What can’t human leave without it?” What? This was harder than she thought. She hesitated and thought but she couldn’t think of anything. Oh no, I’m trapped, she thought. Then an idea popped out of her head. She thought about all the things that she have done with others. She was happy as she could be. Finally, she said, “Friends.” genius! No one passed this question before you’ve got all right. Like the promise, I’ll let you and friends go home.” Said dragon. “In to middle of remembrances, open the door to happiness and enjoyments, make the dream true and open the gate to another world!” the storm appeared and Tassana saw dragon waving, then she fell down on to Cotria’s doorstep with other friends. “That was close!” said Kacine sighed.”I learnt that nothing can be compared with friends, ever!” they smiled at each other. Hope in the Gobi Desert Dulwich College Beijing, Yi Xin Lee, Fiction: Group 2

hirst…hunger…the few things that I hate. “Please,” I whispered to myself, “I want to be alive…” Slowly, I could feel the sand swallowing me as I began to regret my decision of leaving the team... Three days earlier, I was with a group of ten people on a research trip to the Gobi TDesert to look at how plants and cactus could grow in such harsh and dry conditions. That day, I remember how the nervousness inside of me kept growing as I blinked at the large expanse of the Gobi desert. This was it; my first trip to a desert. I promised myself that I would stick to the team and never go off on my own. On the way to the campsite, I relaxed a little as I took in the beauty of the desert. When the blue blanket of the world had turned an inky shade and the stars came out to wink at us, we arrived at the campsite. That night as I tossed and turned in my sleeping bag, I couldn’t get to sleep. The snores and soft, sleepy murmurs coming from my fellow teammates did not help. Bored and frustrated, I fell into the temptation to take a walk out from the campsite. “Don’t worry, “I whispered to myself, “I won’t go far.” Suddenly, I heard a strange sound, like a soft whistling in the distance. I knew it would be dangerous but I couldn’t resist it. I needed to know what that whistle was and, with my heart in inner turmoil, I decided to go towards it. As I trudged cautiously across the sandy dunes, the wind picked up and I felt sand enter my eyes. Irritated, I rubbed my eyes furiously as the wind that had just moments ago been a dappling breeze, started to whirl violently. The sand that was carried along scraped my skin viciously and my body had trouble listening to gravity. I coughed and put together what was happening; the strong wind, the vast amounts of sand- I was in a sandstorm! Helplessly, I looked around but all I could see was sand and dirt. I could see nothing beyond five meters. Instantly, something caught my eyes; a rock- shelter! With hope rising inside of me, I sprinted towards it and hid behind it. I pulled my hoodie on and covered my face, praying that the sandstorm would cease. Hours passed and only when the sun was rising did Mother Nature grant me relief; the sandstorm had stopped. Weakly, I stood up and stumbled from behind the rock. I blinked the sand away from my eyes and looked around me. Where was the campsite? I cupped my hands around my eyes and looked further, but the sight was unfamiliar. The dunes had changed overnight, shifting and dancing into a new landscape, and in that moment I knew that I was lost. My heart sunk. “How am I going to get back to base?” I had no food or water. Swallowing my own saliva didn’t help. I started shouting for help but the only sound I heard in the desert was my own voice. I walked for a whole day but I didn’t know if I was walking nearer or further from the campsite. Thoughts of doubts began to swarm my head like scorpions and a bag of hopelessness settled and grew inside of me. Night fell and I could feel my eyelids drooping. “Comfort,” I thought, “comfort.” A small smile graced my lips as my thoughts turned to my mum. My mum - my source of comfort. I remembered her kind, warmth and loving face. My tongue could vividly taste her delicious meals that she would cook for me. As the night grew darker, I missed her warm hug and kisses. But I had not always been grateful and had hurt her so many times. I wasn’t a good daughter. I wanted to let her know how much I loved her, how much I would always love her. I could feel tears welling up inside of me, but from the lack of water, they refused to fall. “I’m sorry mum,” I whispered, “I’m so sorry.” On the third day, after walking for hours, I could feel my skin peeling and I could feel the sun sucking each drop of water left in my body out of me. Even though I was shaking all over and the heat was so overpowering that each step felt like a thousand kilometres, I still kept walking. With the sun directly on my head, my eyes felt like defying me, and began to droop downwards. I shook my head. “Stay awake.” I told myself. Hesitantly, I forced my eyes open and the sight before me was one I had never dared to imagine. My mum! I saw her waving at me from a far distance. She kept on smiling at me and told me to come towards her. I tried to grab her hand as I moved towards her but she started to drift away. “Mum, please…wait for me.” I cried. “No!” I thought, “This couldn’t be a mirage!” But it was. Finally, as my shaky hands tried to crawl through the sand, my body gave in to unconsciousness. Thirst…hunger…the few things that I hate. “Please,” I whispered to myself, “I want to be alive…” Slowly, I could feel the sand swallowing me as I began to regret my decision of leaving the team. As hope left me, I heard the sound of roaring like that of a big propeller and noise of people shouting. I pulled up my head but my eyes were greeted with the fierceness of the midday sun. Then out of the white light, I saw a face with the most kind-hearted smile, “Don’t worry,” the person said, “We have found you.” I closed both my eyes as the person held me in his arms; I knew I was in “safe” hands… THE CURSE OF GOBI DESERT Dulwich College Beijing, Adrian Lew Chii Yang, Fiction: Group 2

o you know the story of the curse of Gobi dessert? Let me tell you the story. This is the curse of Mizunisewzad. The curse is anyone will die of touch the diamond found in the cave. How did the curse starts? Two thousand five hundred years ago, there was a king named Luhaba. He had a big and rainbow diamond then he named it Mizunisewzad.He Dwas a selfish king.He didn’t want anyone to steal his precious diamond so he set a curse on the diamond before he passed away. In 1985, 5 explorers from New York came to Gobi desert to find the mystery diamond. How did they know where is the diamond? LJ found a map from his great-great-great grandfather library. These explorers were LJ, Ryan, Michael, Annie and Andrea. They flew off to Gobi desert where the curse starts. The foolish explorers were not aware of the curse. When they reached there, they stayed at Gobi Star Hotel. They got ready their supply. But then LJ said: “Maybe we should just rest first, we have too much thinking for the diamond. “Yep, right” said Michael who knows everything. “We should make sure that we have everything we need before we go to the dessert!” The group made sure that they have enough food and water before going to bed because they have to wake up at 6:00am the next morning. After they got ready their supplies, they went to sleep. On the second day the brave LJ woke up first, he changed to his explorer t-shirt then woke everybody up. They went to explore the big and wildest Gobi desert. It was hot. Just as Michael knew “The Gobi desert is +40 degrees” he said. Then Annie cried out “What if we don’t have a GPS! And we will be lost in the biggest desert in the world!” “No way! It’s not the biggest it’s the fifth largest” snorted Michael.As they walked, Andrea consoled Annie: “Don’t worry I have the GPS.”They walked days and nights until they found a dark and misty leading to nowhere cave. “Wow!” screamed Ryan, LJ asked Andrea “Andrea does the GPS show this is the destination?” “It is!”shouted Andrea, happily. It was 12:00p.m so they all ate lunch.About 1:00, they set off to explore the Gobi desert mysterious cave. “Dude, did you know that a guy named Howard Carter found King Tut was dead because he was bitten by a mosquito on the cheek. The real curse was a Legend that anyone who dared to open the tomb would suffer the wrath of the mummy. Anyway it’s Cool huh.” boasted Michael. It was getting darker and darker. “I am scared” cried Annie. They have reached a double tunnel “Which way should we go?” muttered Ryan. “I think it’s this way” replied LJ pointing to the left. “Ok let’s go!” Ryan squeaked. Then they started walking to the left tunnel. It’s a long way down... They saw a big golden coffin. LJ and Michael walked towards the coffin then Michael said “Let’s open it up” “One two three!”hollered LJ. When it’s opened they saw a dead guy holding something. “It’s the diamond!”gulp Annie. LJ tried to pull the diamond out from the guy’s hand “As I know, this dead guy was the king of Gobi desert, Luhaba” said Michael. LJ pulled but the diamond did not come off. “Guess we have to chop off Luhaba hand” said Andrea, making a gross face. After they chopped off his hand LJ carefully put the diamond into his backpack and started walking out of the cave, but LJ got the wrong tunnel and he did not even notice it. These dumb explorers walked down to the wrong tunnel. The tunnel was dark and misty so they did not know that a strong and poisonous snake was going to bite Annie who was last in the line. A few seconds later the snake attacked and it stroked on Annie’s neck.Bam! The teeth as sharp as a spear sank in to Annie neck without making any noise.Annie died silently without the group knowing. As they walked, the curse started killing them one by one. The next one was Ryan.Ryan laughed “When we got out of the place. I am going to be Rich –.”Then suddenly lots of bats flew by “Whoa” whispered Ryan. He tripped and fell on the floor with his head going down first and died.LJ, Michael and Andrea turned around.They saw Ryan on the floor.Michael muttered “He is dead and where is Annie?...but we don’t know that if Annie was still alive.” “We must save her. “cried Andrea, no it’s too late.”LJ shouted “We must keep moving.” “Are you a robot or something that there is a teammate to save!” As they argued, a lot of sand leaked out of Andrea’s mouth like a waterfall. Andrea started feeling ill.Blood went down from her nose.She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes and she died.LJ scream so was Michael “Argh!”Michael shouted.LJ put the diamond in his backpack. Then He and Michael ran and ran they did not care where they were heading to. They just wanted to get away from the body. It’s was almost to the way out but as they ran Michael accidently stepped on trap with two arrows flew by. LJ and Michael shoulder were struck by the wall with two arrows in their shoulder. Then LJ saw a shadow flew past and appeared beside him. It was king Luhaba “My diamond, my diamond” he whisper. He snatched LJ backpack, opened the zip and took the diamond. While he was walking, he laughed out “Mah ha ha ha ha ha ha.” And disappeared in the mist. There are already 99 explorers king Luhaba killed to protect his precious treasure. It’s a treasure that no one can get. 100 years past by. 14 more foolish explorers came to find the diamond and the killing started again. Shortlisted

Gobi and the Desert Dulwich College Beijing, Michael Lu, 7

illions and millions of years ago, I was still a young jungle with no name. I was made out of rows and rows of lush green trees and rich fertile grasslands. On my sturdy backside lay a village, it provided shelter for a few hundred families. The red roofs were battered broken and bent with rain, the windows were cracked, and the Mdoors were scratched. Cruel carnivorous half-dinosaur half-lizard creatures called Dezards roamed freely on me, and I couldn’t stop them from destroying the beautiful landscape on my back. They had malicious green spikes on their backs, crooked yellow teeth, and their eyeballs were red with greed. They forced the poor starving villagers to present one boy and one girl every year as sacrificial goods, or else they threatened to trample the village. I was desperate to save the children, yet I couldn’t do anything to help the villagers! It was that day of the year again for villagers to offer a boy and a girl to the Dezards. All the villagers gathered together in the meeting square before dawn. The children were huddled in semicircles around a platform made out of wood. Everyone grew hushed as the fat chief mounted the stage. He solemnly took out a handful of straws and asked all the boys to take a straw from his hand, whoever picked the shortest straw was to be sacrificed. Small hands grabbed at the handful of straws, and then sighed in relief as they realized they weren’t chosen. Finally, a large plump boy gasped as he drew away the shortest straw, his eyes grew wide with terror and he started trembling from head to toe. His mother, watching anxiously from the sidelines, screamed and fainted. The same thing happened to the girls. The two unlucky children walked silently towards the edge of the village, clutching tightly to their parents’ hands. They knew that shortly, they would meet the Dezards and face death. A steady drizzle poured down on the villagers, as if even the heavens were mourning for the two children that were to be lost. Even though it was summer everyone shuddered like it was winter. Then, mysteriously, the grey clouds overhead took shape of an old man. Suddenly, before the villagers could express their surprise, an old man whom the villagers had never seen before appeared in the crowd. He had wispy white hair that was unevenly cut and two front teeth that made him look like an over-grown rabbit. However, his eyes shone with wisdom and knowledge, and the villagers immediately grew silent, as they knew he was to be respected. The man said, “My name is Gobi, and I have heard of your unhappy situation. I think that I can save your village with my powers. Why don’t you sacrifice me instead?” Although the villagers were unsure, Gobi stood firm. At last, the villagers had to give in. Gobi walked silently to the edge of the village, where the sacrificial children stood. He pushed them aside and disappeared in the mist. POOF! All of a sudden, my precious land shook and trembled, like a fragile dandelion in a ferocious storm. After that, faint rumbling sounds were heard. I was shocked to see that lava was gushing out of my back. I also heard cries and shouts of confusion as the terrified Dezards ran for their lives. Soon, they disappeared. Then, all my green trees disappeared, leaving dust and sand. As soon as Gobi walked calmly back to the village, my people rushed forward, showering him with praise and gratitude. However, they were disappointed to find that Gobi had also blown up the trees that they had spent long hours cultivating, and turned their fertile jungle into a harsh desert. Yet that was only a small price to pay for the destruction of the horrible Dezards. Then the proud villagers cheered for Gobi and invited him to the feast that would take place to celebrate the defeat of the Dezards. However, Gobi refused and assured them that he hated the Dezards himself and was pleased to help. At night, after Gobi had gone home, the people had a great feast to celebrate the unexpected defeat of the Dezards. And, to remember Gobi forever, they named me the Gobi Desert. The Elemental Dragon Dulwich College Beijing, Reiko Ng ZiTong, Fiction: Group 2

any traveling minstrels and bards have sung and told many great stories, but this is a different story from others, yet as same as others. This is where tales and stories of hardship, despair, a life full of obstacles and of happiness, harmony and magic came from. I am talking about how the Gobi desert was made, the story of the legendary Melemental dragon, the most famous of them all. Long ago, when there was peace and harmony, when mythical creatures roamed the earth, there were dragons, and the one type of dragons that kept the harmony between the dragons were the elemental dragons. But with harmony, evil and chaos must also follow, or there will be no balance. Originally a loyal light dragon, Umbera eventually became twisted with jealously and hatred from the popularity of the elemental dragons, and the results were that he became obsessed with power to overthrow the elemental dragons and become ruler of all the dragons, no, everything! Every single being that was created will be under his thrall. His corrupted mind leaped with glee when he thought of this. At this moment, when he became corrupted, his pearl colored scales, which had been dimming the last few days, discolored to black with shades of dark purple. His eyes were overflowing with dark, forbidden magic. His evil laugh, echoing, could send shivers down anybody’s spine. This was when the first dark creature, a creature of chaos, a creature that threatened to topple the balance of harmony and chaos, a creature who was about to change everything, was made out of spite, jealously and anger, the elements of evil. Umbera started his quest of chaos, making innocent creatures dark, killing anything that opposed him, that is, until the elemental dragons heard about the trail of bloodshed that followed him. They immediately sent out to confront Umbera, and there was a fight between Umbera, the creatures under his will and the elemental dragons, which felt like eternity. But at last, the dragons faced the horrifying truth, they had to give up their life force in order to get rid of Umbera forever and free the corrupted creatures. Umbera frantically tried to stop them with dark magic, but it was too late, as the dragons finished their spell and immediately disintegrated to dust, Umbera wailed in agony as his body dissolved into shadowy vapour and was sucked into the ground, and the corrupted creatures regained their consciousness and went back to their respective homes. The dragons were happy that the evil plaguing the land had finally been vanquished, but they had lost the elemental dragons when the entire population had gone to confront Umbera, or at least they thought, until they found a baby elemental dragon, a hatchling, with his dying mother, wailing in the white snow... “Sleeping in class again?” Aefaria snapped into consciousness as the class hooted with laughter at him as Teacher Fern, a nature dragon, eyed him suspiciously. “You better not do that under my watch again, hatchling.’ The class stopped laughing, but there were still a few sniggers. “Now, what happened when the elemental dragons unleashed their power on Umbera?’ When there was no answer, she sighed. “ You of all dragons should know. The elemental dragons lost their lives, but Umbera was defeated.’ What did she mean by that? You of all dragons should know? “Class over.” Teacher Fern exclaimed firmly. “I have something important to tell you, Aefaria.” His mother Gobi, a Pure Earth dragon respected by the community for her kindness and sense of honour, said with a worried expression on her face. “When Umbera was defeated, the entire population of elemental dragons succumbed, or so we thought, because you are the last elemental dragon, and not just any one, you are the son of The King, Cassius.’ “Umbera, The Dark One, will soon be released from his prison, and you are the only one who can stop him.” Aefaria felt so angry that no one, especially Gobi, had told him who he really was, or who his parents were, or what his destiny was! But then again, he had to make use of the sacrifices his parents and other creatures had made, he could not run away from his destiny. He had to face it! Deep down in the barren wastelands, Umbera’s evil soul had dwelled there for almost a century. Now, he was finally free! Umbera’s soul soared upwards, and when it finally reached the surface, shadowy vapour formed itself into his terrifying form.” Now, I will finally exact my revenge!’ Umbera growled. He laughed, and his laughter could be heard resonating throughout the region. Then, Umbera sensed a presence. It was Aefaria, ready to face him. Umbera’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and the shadowy tendrils surrounding him swirled uneasily.” You! I knew I should have killed you when you were still young and naïve, royal brat!’ “ I am here to cleanse the world of you Umbera!’ The two dragons launched themselves at each other and started the epic battle between good and evil. Gobi had led the townsfolk into safety, and now was wondering what was happening to her foster son. She told them to go on first, and flew to the wasteland hurriedly. When Gobi arrived, she saw Umbera had pinned down Aefaria, and was ready to issue the killing blow.”Noooo!’ She then chanted an explosion spell. What happened? Umbera, Gobi and Aefaria were killed in the explosion, their bodies not found. The barren land where Umbera was imprisoned and everywhere around it was created into a desert. Aefaria’s body made the different parts of a desert, such as the oasis and sand dunes, the parts of Umbera, the treacherous snakes found there and the parts of Gobi making the plants and exotic creatures and the famous Silk Road. To this day, this desert is called the Gobi desert after Genobia, and Aefaria and Genobia’s spirits live on forever. All because of a Cream Puff Dulwich College Beijing, Imi Parker, Fiction: Group 2

To: A stranger

Hi. My name’s Summer. I live in Philadelphia. I go to ISA. I have a brother and sister. George is seven and a pain in the butt. Christina (Prissy-Chrissie) is sixteen and thinks she knows everything. I am twelve and I hate school because I don’t have any friends. George has tons of friends and even Christina has friends! Well, of course she does. She’s perfect. She’s so perfect she makes me sick. I hope your family is nicer than mine. Another thing about me is that I didn’t want to write this crappy letter to you, whoever you are.

From: Summer

I folded the paper in half and walked to Mr. Cranks’ desk. “I’m finished.” I said. No answer. “Excuse me?” I tried. “Mr. Cranks!” I yelled. He started. ”SUMMER!” he protested. “I’m sorry Mr. Cranks” I mumbled, flushing. “Alright. What did you need to speak to me about?” “I finished my letter.” I told him. “Give it to me and I’ll post it” I handed him the letter just as the bell rang. Everybody began to pour out of the room. “Have a nice holiday!” He called after me. “Dad and I are going out.” Mom told us later that evening. “Christina, you’re in charge. George, it’s your turn to wash up, and kids…” We looked at her expectantly. “Don’t kill each other.” And with that, she stepped into our dirty jeep and drove away. “Summer!!! Where did you put my headphones?” Christina roared, storming into the living room. I smirked. “Up there.” I said, pointing. I had hung her expensive purple headphones from the chandelier! Before Christina could speak, George called out: “Hey, Prissy-Chrissie, get a load of THIS!” and threw a cream-puff at her. It hit her right between her eyes. Christina’s face turned red, purple, then, finally, white. Screaming with rage, she picked up a side-table and hurled it at him. George dodged, and the heavy piece of furniture thudded against the wall. A single crack began to form. It traveled from one side of the room to the other. It stopped just above the mantelpiece, by Great-Grandpa’s ornate brass egg timer, which began to shake violently, the grains of sand moving inside, like tiny demons fighting to get out of the cage that held them captive. Then, it exploded in golden sparks. A tornado formed above our heads, gaining power and strength with every magical moment. It dropped on us, a bomb, engulfing us in what seemed like molten gold. Then, everything went black. When I woke up, we were surrounded by sand. Sand and Animals. I’ve always loved animals, so I could identify some of the species around us. There was the Jerboa, the Marbled Polecat, and the Camel, all desert creatures. By this time, Christina had woken up. “Where are we?” she asked, sleepily. Then she noticed what she was sitting next to. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” she screamed. “A rat!” “Actually, it’s a Jerboa.” I told her mildly. George, who had been staring at the Camel, suddenly yelled “It’s wearing CLOTHES!” we all turned to look. “Of course I’m wearing CLOTHES! You’re wearing them aren’t you?” exclaimed the Camel. Christina’s eyes widened, I gasped and George’s jaw was millimeters away from the dusty ground. Seeing our surprise, the Jerboa beckoned to the other animals. After several moments of discussion, the Polecat stood on two legs. “We understand that you come from a… place where animals don’t talk. Am I correct?” Christina nodded, wordlessly. “We also believe that you want to get back there? So, as we are the “boss animals” around here, we’ve decided that I and a few others will travel with you through our desert to get you home safely. But there is one condition.” “Wait, desert? What desert?” I asked. “The Gobi of course!” I was puzzled, but Christina just wanted to find a way home. “What’s the condition?” she enquired eagerly. “That tonight, WE WILL PARTY!!!” Several weird and manic hours later, we crawled to the safety of our rocks (Nara, the Gobi bear, had propped up huge rocks for us to sleep under, and Nomba, the Gray wolf, had made holes in the sand as beds). I wondered why these dangerous predators hadn’t eaten us but Bob (Jerboa), Bobo (Polecat), and Somba (Camel), enlightened me that they were THE party animals of the Gobi and their main purposes in life were to wear snazzy sunglasses and rainbow afros. I tossed and turned in my sandy sleeping hole, wondering why the Gobi? until, at around midnight, it clicked. The sand inside the egg-timer was from our great grandfather’s explorations to the Gobi! Now that I knew why, I could rest in peace. Before I fell asleep, I found a piece of paper in my pocket. I put it back. Whatever it was, it could wait till morning. The next day, we continued our journey bright and early with Bob, Bobo and Somba for protection. Riding astride Somba, I pulled the paper out of my pocket. Squinting, I read the words. “Golden Treasure.” The words appeared in golden sparkles, dancing across the paper. “Is this a riddle?” I asked George and Christina, who were sitting behind me. “GRRRRRR” a deep growling sound came from behind. We turned around to face….. A Snow Leopard. Like a black shadow of death, it towered above us. George grinned. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out…..a cream-puff. After the blinded monster had fled, in its place we found three lockets, each full of golden dust. We looked at each other - was this the Golden Treasure? Before we could decide, we found ourselves back in our living room, still clutching the lockets, which were now completely empty, as was the egg timer…..There was no crack in the wall, and Prissy-Chrissy had cream on her face.

When I got back to school, this was waiting:

To: Summer

How was your summer? Mine was boring.

From: Gabriella Edmund Hokinson Dulwich College Beijing, Joy Ryu, Fiction: Group 2

t was a ghostly night when the window shook in the stormy dark colored blanket. I hated that night when Edmund Hokinson called me to the down stairs. It was police mcplint just next to Edmund. “What’s up?”Edmund claimed to the paled police. “This time is too hard for me to solve it by myself. “It was in the Gobi Desert and it’s a huge tornado.” Police Mcplint Iwhispered seriously. We all went to the Gobi Desert that night. When we got to the Desert where the tornado was made, it seemed that Edmund noticed something. “It’s made by a human. It’s too big for nature to make.”Edmund mumbled. As well as the broken woods, we also found two people lying on the sandy messy ground. One was surely the second son of the owner of the nature power company, Alfred Munches and the other one was the well named killer, who stabbed Alfred’s mother. Alfred also died so we all thought that the crime was over but Edmund found a knife but on the knife, there was someone’s name “Peter Munches.” Oh my! Peter lives in Manila. So we just called Peter to the Gobi Hotel to talk about the craziest thing in the world. Now he came to the Gobi Hotel with the two red eyes saying “I want to kill you all” “Hello… ..”Peter mumbled “So why did you kill your brother and someone similar as you?” Edmund and I asked. “If you ask me about that, there is no reason I can’t tell you because I don’t know what you guys are going to do on me.” creamed Peter as he stood up getting ready to go, but Edmund is never those kind of person who lets a human go in one minute. “Then would you tell me what your mother said as she was facing the death?” exclaimed Mr.Hokinson. Peter’s eyes shook like an earth quick. Then he slowly and silently opened a note book and showed it to us all. It said Peter, what is the crown that you want to wear, love, wealth?’ The next day, we got the morning plane to Manila. On the plane I really tried to work but Edmund was snoring so loudly that there was an air crash. He kicked the seats away and snored as loud as he could. Everybody stared at me as if it was me who snored like a giant lion. Anyway, we got to the first son of the chairman of the nature power station company (who is Peter). Luckily, Peter was at work so we could go into the house whenever we wanted. We could easily find out that it was Peter’s mother who Peter loved and couldn’t live without her. And as me, Helen the great detective’s friend found a great piece of paper that says ‘Mother, I won’t let the one who stabbed you violently go free. Never! ‘ Now it was time for us to go and get Peter. We also found a letter that says ‘You idiots, I’m just leaving Manila to Mongolia. Ha-ha!’ So it means we just came here and we just need to leave now? Oh I can’t believe it. “Wait! It’s just a trap Peter has made. We are not going anywhere, I heard a human’s breathing.” whispered Edmund as quietly as a mouse. As we thought, Peter the sacredly cat came out of the secret wall. But this time was different. Peter had a metal stick just about to hit Edmund’s forehead when Edmund caught the metal stick. They started to fight like two wolves trying to get the meet making a huge bunch of smoke. I wish I could have a camera because they looked just like pro fighters. It started to rain outside. I thought it was a kind rain that could stop the fire in the room. It was the final end when the police came and put his blubbery arm between the two blazing fires. By exidant, the two people got thrown out of the building. And the most important information was that they just jumped off from 19th floor. Good bye I’ll miss you guys very much.

Edmund ‘Peter, if you born into a human once more, who do you, want to be?’

Peter ‘Me? I just want to be a normal person living in a normal house and going to a normal school. What about you, Edmund?’ Edmund ‘I just want to be a kind friend living right next to you…’

Bye world……… The Angel of Gobi Desert French International School, Sharlen Daveau, Fiction Group 2

t the end of a long street stood a small shop. Luna stared at it. “Strange”, she thought, and wondered what was in there. Curious, she first checked if someone was looking but there was no one, so she walked in. Slowly, she looked around the dark and dusty shop. She heard squeaking noises! RatsA with bright red eyes were scurrying around the creaky, wooden floor. Cobwebs hung down the ceiling. Luna started playing with the cobwebs like it was a harp. She tugged at the shimmering gold threads on the web. Then suddenly BOOM! Luna fell into a hollow tunnel, floating in pitch black. Luna landed in a cave. It smelt like burning sand. She heard an echo of long whimperings. She crawled towards the sound. Luna spotted a long and white beard, that shone in the dark. It was a wizard and he was tied up to a long piece of stalagmite. She quickly untied him. Suddenly a toothless Mongolian nomad with crinkly skin appeared. He was the one who had captured the wizard! Luna did not know what to do. The wizard said, “Run! The wizard took Luna’s hand and they both tumbled forward and ran as fast as they could. The Mongolian nomad threw a dagger that just missed them. Then he jumped forward, about to grab them. They were at the entrance of the cave and started climbing out. Suddenly, a black spider came from the back of the cave. The spider started making a web blocking the entrance of the cave. The black spider had saved them! They ran though the burning, yellow sandy dunes. As they ran out, they heard a sweet sound, like the sound of the wind. Luna and the wizard followed the sweet melody. In the valley, they saw a tent like a cylinder, with white rough animal skin draped over, and ropes tied around it. By the bright red door, a little girl was playing an instrument. The little girl was pale-skinned, with plaited hair and rosy red cheeks. She wore a mandarin collar purple robe with a yellow sash around her waist. She was holding the handle of an instrument with a wooden horse-head on it and at the other end was a box. The strings of the instrument and bow were made of course horsehair. When they approached, the girl stopped playing and smiled. Gasping and out of breath, they told the little girl about the Mongolian nomad. The small girl said she knew the man. His name was Soho and he had slain the horse, of which her instrument was made of. The was made from the bones and mane of a beautiful horse that Soho had killed. So the horse became immortal. Now the horse stays in the sky and gallops among the stars. But if she plays a special song, he flaps his wide, white wings, as the morin khuur and the song and the horse are all connected. He swoops down to earth to help people in distress. The little girl started playing the special song and the notes rose through the desert, into the sky. Then suddenly a beautiful white horse with wings came flying out of the clouds. The little girl stroked his long mane and whispered the story of Soho and the wizard to the horse. The wizard and Luna climbed onto the horses’ back. Gracefully, the horse started to lift and sadly they waved goodbye to the girl and the desert. They softly landed back in the wizard’s shop. The beautiful white horse, the angel of the Gobi desert, flapped his wings and flew into the sky where he lives with the stars. The Eco-Friendly Master French International School, Charlotte Ip, Fiction Group: 2

itting on his bed, Jack was staring at the television. The television was showing a documentary about the natural wonders of the Earth. Then a picture of the Gobi Desert popped upon the screen. As Jack stared at the screen, he felt himself falling through space... “Jack? Jack!” He could hear his mother’s voice calling him distinctly. “Jack!” He was Son soft sand so fine, it felt like lying down on a cloud. He sat up and spotted his father rounding up some goats that were grazing nearby. His father cried. “I’ve just had a brainwave! There are plenty of trees in the area around us. So we can cut all the trees down, use the wood and space to build farmhouses and pens for the animals. We’ll be killing two birds with one stone. We’ll make a fortune doing this!” Jack and his mother nodded enthusiastically. They started chopping down all the trees they saw, and soon, they had hacked down every tree in the clearing! But soon, his father died. It turned out that he died of overworking. Three weeks later, Jack’s mother died too. Jack suspected that she died of a broken heart, but he never was quite sure. Just before she died, she called Jack to her bed for one last goodbye. At that moment, she had never looked so beautiful. He pale, white face surrounded by her dark hair, looked like the moon itself in a midnight cloud. Jack swore that he would never forget that moment. He continued to run the farm, but what he did not notice was that he and his family had cut down the Great Green Wall, which prevented the Gobi Desert from expanding. By the time he realized what he had done, it was too late. The Gobi Desert had expanded so quickly, it had covered the farm completely! Luckily, Jack managed to escape. Panting, he sat on a rock, thinking of what to do next. As he sat there, an idea hit him. “Since my family and I chopped down the Great Green Wall, maybe I can help replant it again!” he thought. With no time to lose, Jack began digging like a maniac until he reached the farm. He barged inside, and got several wheelbarrows and all of his father’s hard-earned money. Jack loaded the money on the wheelbarrows, and with a colossal effort, he began pushing them upwards. With a grunt, he pushed the last one up. Then using his father’s cell phone, he phoned other countries, and bought two million packs of the finest soil, ten thousand seeds, seven hundred thousand plant pots, and ten million gallons of fresh water. Each of the plants got tender, loving care from Jack, and he planted them as if he were planting magic beans. Fifteen years later, Jack finally planted the last tree and smiled in triumph. As he looked at the sky, he felt the whole world spinning around him, the sky was turning from blue to black, and all sounds he could hear were fading from his ears. Jack woke up in his own bedroom. His father had finished reading the newspaper and was about to stuff it in the rubbish bin when Jack came charging downstairs. “Don’t waste paper!” he cried. “Can’t you be more eco-friendly? There are a ton of trees being cut down this minute! If the Great Green Wall gets cut down, the Gobi Desert will expand into China!” His father and mother nodded slowly. From that day on, Jack and his family were eco-friendly. A lot of people all around the world agreed with them and they soon got famous. Jack started an eco-friendly center and he became known as the “Eco-friendly Master” all throughout his life. Shortlisted

A Young Survivor German Swiss International School, Jade Li, Fiction: Group 2

sat in the cave with its dank, darkness. I was in the middle of nowhere; a desert known as Gobi to the local people. I looked around into the threatening blackness, alone and afraid. I had no idea if the cave was safe from Genghis Khan’s men. I could hear nothing, and the silence echoed around the chamber bouncing off the invisible walls. I wondered what it Iwould be like to be home; to experience joy and a moment’s rest. For two years of my life, I had been fleeing from place to place, trying to hide from the dangers even you would be afraid of, from an evil uncle to being the servant of Genghis Khan. Most of the time being a fugitive led to sneaking and stealing but with luck I found my own food. Many people wonder how I survive. Well, if you ask me, it comes with the hunger, the determination for food and water and the desire to go home. I am now an orphan and I’m nine. I used to live in Imgur oasis and my dad was the tribal chief. Every year he travels to Ulaan Bator to trade our finest camels. My misfortune began when my father ordered all my cousins, uncles, aunties, grandpa, grandma and friends from all around town to dine with me and to keep me company as he travelled to Ulaan Bator to trade camels. The lines of guests were endless and from all classes, both the rich and the poor. There was one person I begged my dad not to invite; I pleaded but it was too late. The invitations were already sent. On the guest list I saw uncle Enkhtuya. His name means “Ray of peace” which definitely doesn’t suit his personality. He made me drop dad’s most prized vase, he captured my brother who is now wondering far, far beyond where eyes can see and my father thought he went for an adventure. My uncle led me to the garden and asked me to look down at the beach imagining everyone was joyfully playing. Whilst I was imagining, he deftly pulled a sack over my body; I found myself trapped in the sack and he swiped it over his shoulder. I was frightened and went unconscious. When I was released from the sack, I realized ropes were secured around my wrists. I looked around and beyond me was a crowd full of loud-mouthed adults and warriors, all shoving themselves to the front of the crowd. Without a warning a black horse strutted to the front. His rider had a string moustache that started from his upper lip and dropped down to his chest and it poked out like spikes on a porcupine. Just glaring at him sent a cold shiver down my back. On his right hand he carried a magnificent bird. An eagle, I think. It squawked louder than a lion and quieted everyone down. As this man slowly dismounted his horse, he walked to where I was standing. He circled around me and inspected my teeth. “This boy’s father is a Tribal leader. I traded a camel with him. He used to be a free boy but now he is my servant.” The horse reared up in the air and arrived back on the ground as graceful as a swan. The strange man ordered his soldiers to tie a cloth over my mouth and put me on a camel. The travelling seemed to go on forever as the days became months. We arrived at our destination and before me stood two vast red doors. In the middle was carved a pure gold dragon face. In its mouth a glimmering gold ring flashed almost as bright as the sun. This man has high regard in this village for everyone bowed, I thought. Unexpectedly, a short thin man pulled me off the camel and dragged me towards a run down cottage where he sat me down at a table. He said, “With Genghis Khan…” His voice trailed off. “Who is Genghis Khan?” I interrupted. “The man who enslaved you and brought you here, he likes everything just so. One tiny hair shorter than the other, he would send the barber flying out of the window. One pinch of salt more than his liking, he would execute the cook. What I’m telling you is: to be careful. Now run back to Genghis Khan and serve him well.” I creaked open the door and I sprinted right out of the city gates, as far away from the palace as I could. I knew I shouldn’t but what choice did I have if I didn’t want to be a servant, let alone a servant of Genghis Khan. My feet were in enormous pain and covered with blisters in the sand. I stopped when a family said to me: “Your Father is dead. His body was full of wounds and half buried in blood stained sand. He was robbed and killed during his journey to Ulaan Bator.” Blinking back tears I fled deeper and deeper into the desert to find shelter. The hot sand was burning against my bloody feet. I stared at the sun and watched it set. The sun was a magnificent shade of crimson. The sand’s colour of red seemed to melt away. The breeze grew stronger but I have to keep going. I scrunched up in a ball as if it was the only way to keep me safe. When morning arose, I shook off the sand on my old ragged clothes that were once so fine. In despair, I kept going. The sun was beating against my face and the scorching sand was burning my wounded feet. I trudged further and further from the city where I escaped. Unexpectedly, I stumbled across a dark cave that I now call home, and everyday I say to myself, tomorrow is a new day and I will always have hope that I will find my home. Lost in the Gobi Desert German Swiss International School, Alex Manley, Fiction Group: 2

e’re lost guys! I can’t believe it, we are lost in the middle of the desert!” Peter cried. “ He was in the Gobi Desert with his two brothers, George and Cameron. The boys had wandered off while on a tour with their parents and now they were trying to find their way back to the bus. Between them, they just had a notepad, ropeW and binoculars. The sun was setting and they needed to find some shelter, fast. They scrambled together in the sand and shivered as the night grew colder. The next morning the three boys woke up hungry and started travelling in the direction of where they thought they had come from. Tired and dehydrated, all they desired for was to find a way back to their parents. The oldest of the brothers, Peter, was trying to comfort the other two. Suddenly a big gust of wind came up. “Sand storm! Get down and close your eyes!” shouted Peter. They dropped down, but the weight of the storm was just too strong for them. The wind pulled them back and sand blasted their faces while they huddled together and waited until it was over. Eventually, the storm ended. They were now even more dehydrated and their bodies were giving up. Sweat ran down their neck and they had a salt taste in their mouth. Suddenly, Cameron looked up and said, “What’s that over there?” “Camels!” shouted George. Even though it is against the law to steal livestock, they didn’t care, they were desperate. Using the rope Cameron was carrying, they lassoed a tame camel each, jumped onto their furry backs and started moving through the desert. The mountains seemed to go on forever. It was still windy and the camels were getting tired. Peter was busy looking through the binoculars. Very slowly, the camels dropped into the sand: it was just too much for them. As the boys went back to walking, Cameron blubbered that they were never going to get out of this place. Soon it was nightfall again and the moon was shining above their heads. Their mouths were dry and they stopped for a nap. Suddenly they heard a hoofbeats and saw group of bandits riding towards them. They had weapons on their back and looked scruffy and threatening. “Quick, we’ve got to hide!” Peter whispered urgently. They quickly hid behind a nearby rock as the bandits rode closer and closer and then passed their rock. Their faces were vicious looking and each wore a black cloak and carried a sword. Cameron’s heart was beating extremely fast. Night then turned to dawn. The brothers wanted to give up. It seemed that there was no hope for them. Peter was thinking about their mum and dad and hoped that they had organized a search party for them. On the horizon, George saw a cave in the hills. He shouted to them and they all ran towards it. Their hamstrings hurt with every step but they were determined to reach the cave. Soon, they shuffled inside and decided to stay there for the night. Just then, they heard a loud sound above them. It was a helicopter! Desperately they ran outside and waved their hands in the air. Peter called to Cameron, “Hand me the rope! I am going to make sure that they see us!” He swung the rope round and round his head. The helicopter was about to leave the area when the pilot spotted the three boys. The boys cheered as the helicopter turned back to them. The pilot threw down a ring and they each clung on to it as the rescue team pulled them up, one by one. When they finally saw their parents, they were full of relief and joy. In the end the boys learned that when they worked as a team, nothing could defeat them. Since then, they have gone on to have many unforgettable moments in their lives, but being lost in the Gobi Desert was definitely their most memorable adventure. Tales of the Gobi Desert German Swiss International School, Lauren Mok, Fiction: Group 2

ne morning, a girl called Grace and her friends Alice and Ruby were playing at a playground in a city in China. The sky was clear and all the children were enjoying playing in the hot, bright sun. When everyone felt tired, they went back to their homes. “I can’t wait to eat lunch,” said Ruby. On the way, Grace saw something strange. OWhen she went to go play with her friends, she always passed a furniture shop. Now, that shop had vanished. Instead, there was a very old looEmperor path. ”Did we see this path when we passed by this street?” Grace asked her friends. “No, we didn’t!” replied Alice. “Let’s go see if it will take us back home faster!” But, as Alice stepped onto the path, it made a loud crack. The path disappeared and they were standing on smooth, golden sand the sun became hotter, and hotter, and hotter! The three friends stood there with their mouths open, gaping at the wonderful view in front of them. “What happened? Where are we?” Ruby cried, turning to see around her. The other two were too stunned to speak. An old man with a long, white beard, dressed in odd looEmperor robes, sitting on a camel, saw them and came over. “Hello, You are in the Gobi Desert. Your destiny has brought you to me. I am the Emperor’s Magician, and I need you to help me. I have a dinosaur egg that the Emperor gave me as a present, for showing him so many good tricks. But, one morning when I woke up, the egg was gone! The Emperor had told me that an evil criminal wanted to steal the egg, so he gave it to me to hide. When I told the Emperor what happened, he was furious. He said that I was a very careless man, and since I lost it, I have to get it back. Could you please help me get it back?” Then the man started to ride away on his camel. “Wait!” said Alice. “How are we supposed to find the criminal?” “If you have willing hearts, you will find him!” With that, the Magician was gone. Suddenly, a fierce wind suddenly swirled around them, stinging their eyes with the golden sand. The wind swept them up and off they went. After a while, the wind finally left them down in front of a big house. Grace, Alice and Ruby walked curiously to the front door. They quietly opened the door and peeped inside. A darkly clothed man was sitting on a chair, reading a thick book. Then, he closed the book, and picked up a huge egg. It had to be the Magician’s dinosaur egg and this must be the criminal. After caressing the egg for some time with a greedy look in his eyes, he yelled,” Slaves! Come here to play some music for me!” Three men dressed in filthy rags came in to the room holding musical instruments. As the music went on, he slowly started to close his eyes and in a few minutes, the criminal was asleep, snoring very loudly. The slaves bowed went out of the room. “Great!” whispered Grace. “Since he is asleep, it will be easier for us to get the egg.” They tiptoed into the room. With her heart pounding, Grace took the egg out of his hands and went back to the door. As she opened the door, it made a loud creak! Surprised by the noise, the criminal jumped up, eyes wide and red. “Who’s there?” he shouted.” Who dares to enter my house?” But luckily, the minute they stepped out of his door, the wind picked them up again and in an instant they were back in the middle of the Gobi Desert. The Emperor’s Magician was there again, sitting on his camel, as if he was expecting them. The children carefully handed the egg back to the Magician. Cupped in the old Magician’s hands, the egg seemed to move a little and glow white. Cracks appeared. “The dinosaur egg is hatching!” Grace cried. They gathered around the egg and watched closely as the shell broke open. Astonished, the children stared as a tiny man, dressed in regal robes, stepped out of the shell. The Magician laid the man on the golden sand where the tiny man began to grow until there, before them, stood a fully grown man, wearing a crown and the robes of an ancient Emperor. “Thank you, children, for releasing me from my prison. I have waited thousands of years for someone to set me free. Magician, please give the children something to thank them for their service, “said the Emperor. The Magician smiled and from within his robes, drew out three silk pouches. “Inside, you will find the magic sand of the Gobi Desert. Use it when you have the need.” With that, the Magician and the Emperor shimmered in the heat of the desert and disappeared. The girls saw that the path that had brought them to this land had appeared again. Stepping onto the path, the three were brought back into the street of their neighborhood. They stood there, each examining their silk pouch. What magic did the sand possess? When would they have the need to use it? The answers to those questions will have to be discovered in the next tale of the Gobi Desert! The Mother of all Camels German Swiss International School, Jade Poon, Fiction: Group 2

EEP!” An alarm clock rang, vibrating so strongly that it bounced off the table and onto “ the floor. “Who set this annoying thing?” Charlie grumbled from underneath his covers. “We’re supposed to be on holiday while travelling with the Mongolian tribe!” BA noise sounded near the doorway and he turned to see his younger siblings, Luke and Zaila, standing there, already fully dressed. “Wake up, Charlie! We’re going outside to see the camels,” said Zaila over her shoulder, as she and Luke exited the yurt. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Charlie quickly changed into his clothes and ran to join them. The three of them silently watched the tribal members brushed the large sand-coloured animals, awed by the twin humps of the desert camels. “Guys,” Luke said, “let’s ride them!” “What?” squeaked Zaila. “Do we have to?” Charlie shook his head in amusement, and heaved himself between the camel’s humps. “Oomph! How long are we going to ride these crazy creatures?” shouted Charlie to Luke. “Until this afternoon!” came the response as they all clambered onto their camels. A few hours in, Luke stopped his camel. “A woman!” Zaila and Charlie halted beside him and watched a young woman dressed in bright colours appear in the distance. She was gesturing urgently, and as Luke peered closer, the sand around them began to shift and swirl. “SANDSTORM!” Luke yelled. Zaila cried out in alarm; Charlie leapt forward to shield her. “W-worm,” she mumbled. Charlie felt a flash of red on his face. Excruciating pain immediately swept through his body, and he collapsed onto the desert sand. “Charlie!” Zaila cried out in alarm. Luke desperately looked around and the woman from earlier appeared before them. “Please help our brother!” Luke said to the woman. “Very well,” she nodded. “As the shaman, I will communicate with the spirits.” She started to sway back and forth, and flung her head in every direction as she danced around Charlie. Then she sank to the grassy ground and held out a hand. Luke gulped, and placed his hand on hers. The Shaman took out a brown brush, scraped Luke’s hand, and then touched it to her face. “Charlie has been poisoned by the death worm’s venom,” she rasped. “There is but one cure –milk from the mother of all camels. To find it, thou must travel to the east of the Gobi with one companion. Thou has a week and a day to succeed, or else Charlie will die. Does thou accept thine quest?” “I-I accept,” Luke stammered. “I choose Zaila as my companion.” “The quest has been confirmed,” croaked the Shaman. An old map materialised in her hands. “Take this. It shall show where the mother of all camels may be.” The Shaman then whirled around, saying, “I shall bring thy brother back to the tribal yurt. May the spirits watch over thee.” There was a flash of light, and the Shaman disappeared. Let’s go,” said Luke. One week later “We’re almost there!” Luke said. Theyhad only one place left to go – the Hissing Sands. “This has to be it. This is the first place with actual camels!” exclaimed Zaila. Guilt immediately washed over him. Talking about camels was a painful reminder of Charlie. If I hadn’t made us ride camels that day, Charlie would not be hurt, thought Luke. Despair weighed down on him as tears fell from his eyes, dripping down to the desert floor. Zaila stared at him, her eyes wide. Luke hardly ever showed his emotions, but now he was weeping inconsolably, and she didn’t know what to do. Zaila moved closer towards him, and then noticed that his tears were bright gold. Every time a tear dropped down to the desert floor, a spark of blue light would appear, until there was a swirl of blue sparks dancing around them. The swirl of blue filled their view of sight and then suddenly, the two siblings were in a forest of lush green trees and blooming flowers. A crystal clear river had appeared,with goldfish swimming in its depths. Luke looked up from his tears and gazed around the forest in bewilderment. His gaze focused on something huge. Zaila followed his gaze and gasped. It was a female camel. She had soft velvety ears, piercing amber eyes, three humps coming out gracefully from her back, elegant legs, and a long, swishing tail. “I am the mother of all camels,” she said in a soft voice.”You have allowed me, and this forest, to appear. This was how it looked many eons ago, long before humans roamed the earth. Then a mysterious force dried the forest, causing many animals to flee. However, my children were still too young, and had no desire to go anywhere else. With a burst of love and despair for them, I exploded into a shower of golden dust that gave them protection in the desert, allowing our species to live on. Lots of people come to the Gobi Desert, feeling despair, but never love. When someone pure of heart comes, I reveal myself and this forest.” Luke and Zaila stared at her, dumbfounded. “Love is a powerful thing. Luke, you loved your brother enough to go on this dangerous journey to save him. Do not despair any longer. Take my milk and bring it back to Charlie.”A rainbow-coloured vial appeared before the two siblings, and as Luke reached out to grab it, a swirl of blue surrounded them once again. This time, when it disappeared, they were back in the tent, where the female Shaman was standing watch over Charlie. Luke quickly staggered over to the Shaman, and handed her the vial. The Shaman opened Charlie’s mouth and poured the potion in. Rays of sunlight flashed from Charlie’s limp body, and his eyes opened. “CHARLIE!” shrieked Zaila, crashing into him. Luke stepped forward, and uttered three words into his ear. “I love you.” Jaist German Swiss International School, Sylvanna Poon, Fiction: Group 2

y name is Jaist and I am going to tell you how once, I was an innocent lamb and how in one day, I turned into a brave, young sheep. I remember from the second I was born, that I was cooed over by my relatives and spoilt by my aunts and uncles. How I loved snuggling into Mother’s lush, forest Mof wool that. But after that day, I started guarding my family with the ferocity of a warrior. This is the tale that all the sheep from near and far tell their kin. The morning had just dawned on the desert and Jaist fluttered his eyes open to a round, amber sun. He was merely a lamb at that time, and he stayed close to the curious humans and the safety of their yurts. It was in the middle of the afternoon when it happened. The Gobi Desert was full of wolves, and sheep were the wolves’ main source of prey. Just then, a wolf was spotted by Jaist’s mother. She looked into the wolf’s livid, red eyes and immediately turned tail and ran. The whole herd kicked up sand as they ran for their lives, the hungry wolf pursuing them. They thought they were saved when Ganzorig, their master’s faithful son, came charging at the wolf, clenching a stick. Their thumping hearts calmed down once again as the herd gazed awestruck at the brave boy. But the boy’s small size put him at a disadvantage, for it was clear that the wolf had scared him too, so he turned heel and ran back to safety. The sheep were panicking again, as the wolf’s blurry shape came back into vision. Suddenly an idea flowed through Jaist’s mind, and he bleated it to his fellow sheep. There was a quick second of hesitation, before the herd followed him and headed towards the Oasis. To Jaist, it felt like a thousand years had passed, when finally the pool of clear, blue water appeared before him. There was always a heavenly feeling in this Oasis. Lush vines flowed down like a girl’s lock of hair, green trees sprung up out of the sand and dew dripped down the rainbow of flowers that bloomed there. Jaist snapped back into reality and continued to race like the wind towards their sanctuary. Then, the herd spotted a figure with a bucket in hand, the master! “Baaa,” bleated the herd in harmony. The master turned his head to see his own sheep running towards him with a wolf snapping at their heels. The master placed his hands into his bag and fished out a lethally, sharp knife. Next, a silver shape flew over the sheep and landed in the wolf’s body. Jaist felt a sickening splash a warm blood landing on his nose, but he was also very happy for it. From that day on, Jaist was proclaimed a hero for his cunningness, bravery and boldness. Searching for Odtsetseg German Swiss International School, Stella Schabel, Fiction: Group 2

dtsetseg! Odtsetseg!” Enkhjargal kept repeating the name of her beloved camel. There “ was no response. Odtsetseg must have lost her way and Enkhjargal felt miserable. Searching frantically in the endless sand dunes, Enkhjargal came upon an old man resting on a boulder. “Will you please help me?” she asked the man. “I’ve lost my camel.” O“Now let me think,” the old man replied. “Yes, I’m almost certain I saw a camel in the distance, heading that way.” He stretched a skinny, leathery arm in the direction of a mountain range shimmering in the distance. Enkhjargal thanked the man for his help and began to scan the horizon. Nothing but sand, rocks, and a few thorny bushes here and there. So on she went. After searching for the entire day she finally gave up. “It’s impossible,” Enkhjargal sighed exhaustedly. “It would take me months to search this whole desert by foot.” She slumped down on the sand, tears filling her eyes. “Excuse me,” said a voice from behind. “Do you need help?” Enkhjargal spun around to see a young farmer on a sweaty, black horse standing before her. “I’ve lost my camel!” she burst out. The farmer studied her for a moment. “You look starved. Why don’t you come with me,” he suggested. Enkhjargal hesitated. The farmer smiled and introduced himself. “I’m Mongo Qutlugh. Come join my wife and me for dinner.” An hour later they approached a little yurt. The farmer’s wife welcomed Enkhjargal and immediately served up a hearty meal of lamb stew and a glass of sheep’s milk. After a while Enkhjargal said, “I better get going.” She thanked Mongo Qutlugh and his wife for their generosity and said goodbye. But Mongo Qutlugh would not let her go by herself and insisted on accompanying her. So they packed some provisions and set off. Not long after, they bumped into a traveller. “Hello,” Mongo Qutlugh greeted the stranger. “Did you happen to see a camel pass by?” The traveller looked up at Mongo Qutlugh. “Why, yes! She was roaming around all by herself, so I took her in. That was when I noticed she had injured her leg. I bandaged it carefully.” “Where is she?” exclaimed Enkhjargal. “Over by my tent. Come, follow me.” The three set off, this time arriving at a small tent, its lining billowing in the wind. Tied to the tent was a small Bactrian camel. Enkhjargal slid off the horse and scrambled towards her camel. “Odtsetseg!” she cried, her eyes tearing up. She flung herself at her camel, squeezing its long neck tightly. Then she whispered in Odtsetseg’s little ears that she would never lose her again. The Darkness Inside the Tomb German Swiss International School, Catrina Yang, Fiction: Group 2

ire! There is danger up ahead! March, but be cautious. Consider your mind before your “ powerful army pushes ahead!” suggested General Kawoobi. “What nonsense you speak! Get lost! People would think we are afraid of entering the tomb of one of the greatest warriors – Temujin the Genghis Khan! We will not hear your Swords and we will march ahead no matter what lies in our distance,” decreed Emperor Cheu-ai-minh. So the brutal army marched ahead ignoring General Kawoobi’s words of warning. They advanced up a meandering cobble path that led to the mausoleum. But, as they entered, they found a bloody corpse on the claret-coloured ground. They could do nothing but shudder with fright. Only the emperor did not move. He stood sturdy and still like a statue, glaring at the embellished structure with ferocious eyes like fire. “Walk confidently on! Even if death lies in our short fate this day, we shall be known for it. What do you say? Cheu-ai-minh the mighty conqueror and his savage, powerful army who sacrificed themselves to Temujin,” announced the emperor. “Hear, hear!” cried the terrible army. So they marched forward, no matter what lay in their way. Then, as they marched into the beautiful, wondrous mausoleum in single file, their eyes widened in astonishment as they admired the luxuries of the tomb. Next, they came to a golden path, decorated with glimmering sapphires, diamonds and emeralds. Lilac and scarlet geraniums were set stunningly into porcelain vases. There were also a lot of bristly, booby-trapped objects hovering in the air and thumping on the ground. This path led to a huge studded, cobalt door, bolted to the ceiling. The army used their powerful lances to strike it open. Suddenly, the door burst open into a dark, dusky room. Inside, was a massive statue of a jackal brandishing a rapier up high and a trident glowed at its side. Barely readable were saying “Need…peace, don’t enter.” Out of his mouth flowed water. The soldiers ran forward to sip the water to quench their thirst. Then there came a breeze of a strong smell. Leather? Pickled walnuts? What a strange odour! As they ran forward and began to greedily cup water into their mouths, the soldiers began grimacing and holding their stomachs, they fainted. A faint smile formed on the Jackal’s face. Then, a spikey figure dived towards them, pierced their brawny torsos, and the claret red bodies exploded in the entrance of the tomb… A Tale of Two Robbers German Swiss International School, Chun Hei Ko, Fiction: Group 2

The Merchant and the Two Time Travellers

Long, long ago, in the year 1889 A.D. when there were no rivers in the Gobi, there was a merchant walking in the Gobi with his camel. On the other side of the desert, a glowing door appeared and two men stepped out. Their names were Frank and Benjamin. They came from the year 2116 A.D. They rode on motorbikes through the sandy plains of the Gobi.

Frank and Benjamin’s Secret

Why were Frank and Benjamin in the desert? They were robbers who wanted to steal the ancient treasures of the Gobi. Many robbers have gone to try but none had returned. As Frank and Benjamin rode through the desert, they saw the merchant. Frank and Benjamin hid behind a sand dune, jumped out and grabbed the merchant’s stuff. Then, they ran back, leapt on a shiny black helicopter and speeded away.

The Kingdom of Coins and The King

The merchant was so shocked that he stood there for a minute or two, paralysed with fear. Then he started to ride towards a nearby kingdom, The Kingdom of Coins. It was named the Kingdom of Coins because it often rained coins. The coins came down from the sky like hail, smashing anything that came in their way. After the ‘golden storm’ (that’s what people in the Kingdom called it), everyone would rush out and start picking the coins. The golden storm came without warning except for golden clouds. The merchant was friends with the King of The Kingdom of Coins, so the merchant thought he should drop in for the night or so and report this case to the police. When the merchant asked the King about the two sneaky robbers, the King collapsed into tears because the police could not catch the robbers who kept stealing from them. The King told the merchant that the two robbers had come almost every day, taking anything they could find.

The Police and The Chase

When the police heard about this, they decided that the robbers had gone too far, and they would have to catch the robbers for once and for all. Having heard that, the robbers leaped on their motorcycles and roared away, but they were so worried about getting caught that they forgot about their shiny black helicopter. When the police saw the robbers trying to escape, they hopped on the helicopter (which the policemen found on the roof of the police station) and tried their very best to catch these two tricky robbers. Somehow, they chased up with the robbers. As the police chief saw the robbers, he jumped up in delight, then he landed on a button, the winch started to lower and hooked the two robbers on their shirt. As the chief saw this, he jumped up again, but this time, in shock and landed on another button. Suddenly, the helicopter stopped without warning. The two robbers were flung to the direction of the door as the hook slipped. The two robbers started to cry rivers and shout “I want my mommy! Help!” As they were thrown into the door, the door snapped shut. The robbers started to rub their sore legs and moaned but they knew they were lucky to be alive.

The Future

While the robbers went through the door, the helicopter started ascending. The policemen got off the helicopter, opened and peeked into the door. They gasped for what they saw - there were planes and helicopters in the sky flying around, millions of cars honking around on the roads, not a single patch of grass anywhere, but worse of all, the pollution. Black clouds flooded the sky, stinky air filled the country. Suddenly, the door started to close. The policemen wanted to find out more so they jumped into the door. All at once, everyone turned and stared at them. The policemen turned and ran, trying to get back into the glowing door but the door had disappeared. The policemen desperately looked around for a place to hide. Then, something caught the chief’s eye, a drainage pipe! The police chief signalled the other policemen to hide in it. They ran as fast as they could, but the drainage pipe started to roll away!

The End

The policemen saw a bank and ran into it. They leaped into an open safe and fell into a hole inside. The policemen shut their eyes waiting for something ghastly to happen but it never came. Luckily, when they opened their eyes, they were back in the sandy desert of the Gobi, in 1889 A.D. The policemen looked back; the robbers had cried so much that the water started to form shallow stream. That is why you can rarely see the streams, but there are shallow rivers in the Gobi today. And best of all, everyone was running to congratulate them! Back at the Kingdom, a party was being held. The policemen told everyone about what happened when they went through the door but nobody believed them. No one got their gold and silver back but they did not care, because the golden storm would bring it back to all of the people in the Kingdom! As for the robbers, they wished they had never been robbers just as their parents told them. So they started a shop selling everything they stole and the robbers lived happily ever again for their whole life! In fact, the robbers made so much money that they bought stuff from the future and gave it to people in the Kingdom of Coins! The robbers would like to ask all of you reading this story to save electricity and natural resources so the pollution in the world would not be as bad as it was in the story! They would also like to tell you not to be a robber because you will definitely get caught by the police and go in jail! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Radhika Bhatia, Fiction: Group 2

rianna was born a redhead, her hair was as red as red velvet cupcake and her eyes were as deep blue as sapphires. She lived in a small city called Shimla which is in India and every day at 4:30pm she watches a show on national geographic channel about the Gobi desert. Arianna was very interested in deserts especially the Gobi desertA which is in India and many camels live there. The Gobi desert can get very cold but most deserts are extremely hot. On Friday afternoon Arianna sat down to watch her favorite show but the volume was to low so she pressed the volume button and as soon as she pressed the button she blacked out and fell into a deep sleep. When Arianna woke up she was in the Gobi desert what a surprise she had! She said to herself “am I really in the Gobi desert” She looked around and she really was in the Gobi desert. As Arianna walked around exploring, she heard a strange voice she looked around and said “where did that noise come from?” Then she turned towards a cactus and the cactus bent forward and whispered “hi my name is Argentina my parents named me after Evita’s song Argentina when they moved to India from Chile where did you come from?” Arianna replied that she dose not remember where she came from but she said that she was very tired and asked the cactus if he knew of any place where she could sleep. The cactus said “yes come on you are welcome to come over to my shed.” “Hmm! alright” replied Arianna and they both set out for the cactus’s shed. After a good sleep Arianna woke up with a bright smile and felt very refreshed, she then head out to find some food and water. Just then she spotted some friendly camels who greeted her warmly “Heloooooooo” they bellowed loudly, so loud that the poor girl had to cover her ears. Everyone in the dessert seemed so friendly. “I’m hungry so so hungry” thought Arianna what can I do my tummy is rumbling just like the animals rumbling in the jungle. She asked the camel what she could do and they all bellowed together “youuuuu caaaan taaake soooome miiiilk froooom us” and that worked out just fine. Then she went for her daily walk and she felt little specs of dust coming into her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and began to sneeze repeatedly. The sand specs started to elevate and mix in with the cool wind. Arianna began to feel cold but she took it really lightly as the dessert can get really cold. As she continued on her walk trying to ignore the cold, she suddenly stumbled upon an oasis and could clearly see her reflection in the water; Arianna was rather thirsty so she took out her one liter bottle and scooped up a pail of water. She gulped down the whole bottle and was getting very frustrated as the sand blowing was getting slightly stronger. Arianna began to feel itchy and twitchy in her nose “aaaaaaaachooooo!” she sneezed. Hobbling around the corner looking for Arianna came Argentina “Quick follow me there is going to be sandstorm he said.” Behind Argentina was the huge herd of camels. “Hooooop onnnnnn ussss!” said the camels and Arianna and Argentina quickly sprung up onto the camel’s back. “Ouch not you pokey!” The cactus got very upset and started to feel bad. Argentina apologized and promised to sit in such a way that would not hurt the friendly camel. Slowly they tried to move away from the storm but the wind began to get stronger and stronger. Then the wind started gushing into Argentina’s, Arianna’s and the camels’ eyes. The wind was so strong that it blew Arianna and Argentina off the camels. They all could not see anything. All of them tried to head back to the shed but they got pushed to the right and left, back and forward. Then they had another problem the sand kept going in there eyes now there really in trouble. Arianna screamed “we have to get back the to shed fast or else we are toast.” They all duct and slithered on the sand slowly to get back to the shed they were so close to the sand and pushed them right but the shed is on the left. The camels tried to stand up with Arianna and Argentina on their backs they did it but they really had to run to reach the shed on time. The camels made it to the shed with Arianna and Argentina. When they got back Arianna said “I still need to get back to my family.” Argentina said “how did you get here.” Arianna forgot how she came gear the she remembered, she blacked out and fell into deep sleep. Argentina replied “maybe while you are sleeping you would be back home.” That night Arianna went to sleep and dosed off because she was extremely tired and when she woke up in the morning the sun was out and there were no more sandstorms. She looked out her window and said “I’m home I’m really home.” Arianna rushed down to tell her parents all about her and adventurous journey. New Tales Of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Anjeli De Blank, Fiction: Group 2

unning and dodging, I skidded to a halt in front of the airport, with a shaky feeling in me. This was my first time going on a plane. as I entered the airport, I felt like I would have a nervous breakdown. I checked in and boarded my stuffy, squashed plane to Beijing. Slumping onto my chair, the flight manager kept playing an annoying video over and Rover to remind us what to do and which things were safe. I was about to fall asleep when the plane started to shake, then suddenly we took off into the thick clouds and headed towards Beijing. Many times I started to panic and lose my breath however I always caught it again. I feel unsafe and am very careless. I start watching a movie to stop feeling like this, I calmed down and felt. l like the safest person on earth. I was very relaxed when suddenly the plane rumbled and the alarm went off, people went crazy. The plane was buzzing with people, I felt like I would faint. Then I remembered the video they played at the beginning, we had parachutes under our seats. I grabbed mine and plunged out of the open doors. I was so afraid I almost puked but thank- goodness I didn’t. I pulled my string and my parachute opened. I looked back and there was a man falling from the sky with a parachute. As soon as I reached the ground I tried to figure out where I was but I had no idea at all. The man landed and told me that we were in the Gobi Desert. I was so shocked that I fainted. I was unconscious for two days. In the morning I woke up in the plane and saw a man. His name was Connor. He was rummaging through the cabin looking for food. He already had a whole bag full. After he got enough food and found a map we started to walk to Beijing. Suddenly we heard a growl. We started to run and something was following us. I looked back and saw a wolf chasing us. It was getting closer and closer. I remembered we had meat so I took it out of the bag and threw it. The wolf stopped running and started eating the meat. It was getting late so we gathered some leaves and put them down. We had a quick dinner and went to bed. The next day I woke up to something licking my face. I opened my eyes and saw marbled polecat. I screamed so loud that I woke up Connor. He grabbed the polecat and threw it. I saw a glimpse of it running over a sand dune. We ate some fruits for breakfast and kept walking. Then we saw a huge river. I wondered how to get across. “I thought we could build a raft but what would it be made of?” I said. Connor said we had to swim across so we did. We slowly walked into the water but it was freezing cold. I swam so slowly that by the time Connor reached the other side I was still halfway through. Then I felt something bite me. It bit me again so I looked at my foot and there was a huge fish biting it. I started to swim really fast until I reached the other side. The fish was gone but so was our supplies. Everything was gone except the map. I was so angry that threw a huge tantrum for a whole hour. I started to calm down, but then my tummy started to rumble. I tried eating the sand but it tasted so gross that I just had to spit it out. Then I saw something green. I ran to it with Connor behind me. It was the Green wall of China! Finally we had reached China. We had no money so we sat on the streets like beggars looking for money. After a few days later we earned enough money to buy two houses. We each bought our own houses and lived like any other normal person. 4 Years Later

After many months Connor finally became a businessman and earned enough money for a better home. As for me, I lived a simple life in simple home, but I also wrote books. My great adventure got published for everyone to read and enjoy. And the book you just read was the book I published. Shortlisted

New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Katya Foong, 10

t was there. Bracing ourselves for the worst, we scrambled underneath our hut. Our leader, General Khan, stood before us like a humungous bulldog barking out orders at full speed. The worst sandstorm we ever experienced was right outside knocking on the shattered flaps of the shelter. “Sukhbataar! Gawping out the window like a mesmerized monkey doesn’t Imake a good warrior!” I nodded in embarrassment as the others turned to face me. “We head out in the morning, gather your weapons,” continued Khan. The warriors rushed into their own part of the torn hut, preparing themselves for whatever danger they might overcome at dawn. As the first streak of sunlight shone like a laser beam through the cracks of our shelter, the soldiers began to mount their camels and collect their weapons. Genghis Khan gave the order with a flick of his hand, we jumped on our camels and rode off to the southern part of the desert where we would meet our enemy. We rode harshly through the sandstorm that was still blowing powerfully. Faces full with exhaustion, we rested on our camel’s smooth silky hump. A sudden noise broke out in the distance, causing our camels to jerk in alarm. “Our battle is near, stay alert,” warned Genghis. We continued our steady pace until we came across thick, black smoke. We saw a light in the distance, curiously yet cautiously we rode up to inspect it. As we came nearer, we saw it wasn’t a light but a mysterious object! Shining in the distance lay a heavy metallic sphere, it was clicking. We came closer, closer, nearer, nearer. Daring not to say a word we swiftly jumped down from our camels and tip-toed towards the object. There were numbers flashing before our very eyes, 5….4…. “Get out of there! Fall back!” yelled Genghis. 3….2…1…BOOM!!! The last thing I remembered was a force pulling me towards the rough ground then everything was black. Pitch black. When I came to, I was lying on a soft surface. The world was a blur. Feeling dizzy I got up and I saw I was in a strange environment. Where was I? What happened to the war? I stood up and peered around me. The sight I saw was shocking, strange people in white coats scurrying in frenzy around what looked like a hospital. Patients lying on beds weakly fighting for their lives. There were also heart monitors, some of them showing a lively, squiggly line and then suddenly a straight one, their eyes closed….. another life had been lost. I continued my unsteady limp wincing in pain towards the blinking exit sign when I heard my name “Sukhbataar, where are you going? You can’t leave!” Without turning back I paused, sighed, then called back, “I’m leaving! I’m going to fight the war.” The scorching sun lay upon me as I continued my trek through the desert, the light from the sun blinded my eyes, I rested for a moment and took a sip of water. A vaguely familiar noise rang out in the distance and guided my camel towards it. Suddenly, an arrow zoomed right past me, loud noises pierced my ears, and more arrows came by, this time missing my face by a centimeter. Then everything was silent. “Sukhbataar? What are you doing here,” a voice called out. “General Khan? I am here to help fight for victory,” I cried back. “Then accompany the rest of what we have left!” I bowed slightly and went off to reunite with the others. The night sky was sleek black with pale white stars shining above the mountain tops, the slight breeze lingered in the air cooling down all my worries. We rode on in silence, with only the sound of our camels walking. The only other sound I could hear was my heart pounding against my chest. Finally we neared our base just as the sun began to appear in the horizon. As we were setting up our camp, we heard cries coming closer towards us. General Khan rushed outside, we all followed after, bow in hand, arrows strapped to our backs. It was a young man, he carried a bleeding body over one shoulder and it sounded as if he was calling for help. “The enemy is coming, hurry, help me get this man to safety and prepare for battle.” General Khan didn’t hesitate, He called to his warriors to help save the injured man. We then collected our weapons, then Genghis piped out, “You know the rules, nobody leaves the battlefield until you die!” The first sight of our enemy was not a pretty one. Ruthless warriors rode on heavy metal armed horses carrying swords, axes and daggers. Our army was the total opposite, petrified humans shaking on unarmed camels clenching our favorite weapon: The Mongal bow. Although underneath our heavy coat fastened with a tight leather belt lay a sword and an axe, our secret weapons. The horn sounded, after that life would never be the same again. Galloping through the uneven ground at full speed, arrow strapped to my bow ready for anything. Out of nowhere came the sharpest sword plunging right towards my heart. I ducked and popped right back up as soon as I saw it whiz pass me like a rocket. I aimed my arrow towards my predator’s horse and shot. It only took one second for the horse to fall dead on the rough ground and my enemy along with it. I gasped in horror at what I’d done to another human, then looked away and continued the bloody battle. I ended three more lives until I finally heard the drum beat to signal that this death game was finally over. We won. The rest of the enemy fled back into their territory and we were left alone to the sight of bleeding bodies everywhere. As we were heading back to base, I heard yells behind us, so I turned around to see what all the commotion was about, but all I saw was the arrow zooming straight towards its target: Me. I fell off my horse and staggered backwards on the ground. The last thing I saw was all my friends rushing back to fight the enemy once again. I slowly closed my eyes and remembered seeing the people on the beds in the hospital. Motionless. Just like me now. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Ravi Jain, Fiction: Group 2

rash! The jeep veered sturdily out of course, cracking the freezing ice below. The air was suddenly filled with chants of curses and excuses. “Get... out... of the car!?” yelled one of the men. He was Dr. Richard Phillip, a very frustrated but dedicated paleontologist, whose car had been stuck in an ice mound. CAs the sun sank quickly down, the sky turned amethyst and black. The car still stood rigidly on the broken ice, no one daring to touch it, making it impossible to escape. The night had fallen, the team hauled in more blankets and provisions from the car, merely wet. Dr. Philip said one last order. “Hey! Give me that ice pick” and then, crash! Something odd was sticking out from the cracked ground. “How...did...that...happen?” yawned the exhausted Dr. Phillip, quickly dozing off. The wavy smells of watery porridge soon filled the morning sky, making it a miserable day for the stranded crew. However, the only objective was, to find out about the mystery bone. Scents of wonder, filled the crowds of paleontologists, when great news struck. “Sir, we have found superb traces of your dinosaur. It was a Velociraptor, the bone you found, a sharp sickle claw. The local Mongolians have heard this, and they have offered to help us.” spoke one of the paleontologist excitingly. Instantly fast, as if someone had struck him with lightning of happiness, the aging Dr. Phillips face turned extremely bright, as if a lightbulb in its highest volt. “Yes! we are going home, yeah!” yelled Dr. Phillip. Suddenly, a dark shadow swept upon him, casting over the sky. “Oh, Johnson, need anything?” asked Dr. Phillip. “Yes, some of your Velociraptors, I want to do some experiments.” Johnson Alleibi, a chemist said sternly. As the astonished Dr. Philip nodded his head in agreement, caught off guard, the chemist lowered a wicked grin. Dr Alleibi sat down in the dingy room, working with microscopic extracted D.N.A liquid. He took the extracted liquid, quickly growing some cells in a machine. As the clock kept ticking, and the dark night ending, the frustrated chemist kept working. As the rows of liquid started piling up, more time was lost. Dr. Alleibi carefully injected the D.N.A into Velociraptor bones, beginning a nefarious experiment. The local Mongolians were soon there, ringing a bell. Packing up his precious work, Dr. Alleibi went his way to the horses, smiling wickedly. The doors of night spread quickly over the horizon, blocking the peaceful, little village into the darkness. Inside, loud chants of laughter leaked out of the open yurts, as the local leader, Rulaanbaatar fed the paleontologists with goat cheese and pastry till their stomachs groaned. However, as the chants of laughter withdrew, a shadow lurked out. The chemist carried a cloak and a watch, muttering under his breath. When suddenly, out of the night, a sharp-horned, brown Ibex appeared. Neighing, the Ibex reared up, breaking the soil to bits. Quickly withdrawing, it pounded away, leaving the mad chemist hallucinating. As the clock ticked past midnight, a ground-breaking noise suddenly penetrated the ground. The Velociraptors had been revived. Quickly, they pounced on the yurts, bringing down the whole village. The chaos spread round, destroying the entire place. Unexpectedly, a splitting noise went inside the top yurt, with red blood flowing down. As Velociraptors pillaged the village, the Ibex watched. Not daring to stop the rampage, it went closer to get a better look, turning away and neighing. The Ibex trotted slowly towards the mountains, too scared by the evil creatures to move fast. As it neared the mountains, it glanced at the cold stone-mountain face. As the animal stared at it, the stone face mysteriously spoke, “Ibex, stop cowering, for you must stop those Velociraptors, or else you will die like those humans!” As the bewildered animal slowly nodded his head, the stone stuck a smile onto it’s face, turning to rock again. The sun was ember, the plains of the Gobi desert frozen-still when a great pounding noise broke the silence. The army of animals proceeded, heavily armed with horns, claws, and speed. Another sound echoed through the empty valley and instantly stopped. Quickly, a weary-looking Rulaanbaatar slipped down from his horse. He spoke to the animals sadly, talking all about his peoples’ death, and that he wanted the animals to reunite against the raptors. As he spoke, a wild tremor shook the valley. The sturdy animals pranced forward towards the tremor, when suddenly a great fault line cracked open. A wall of vast green emerald trees sprouted out from below, growing at lightning speed. “Boom” as the aftershock shook off, miniature silhouettes gathered up the fault line. Stumbling, the Velociraptors scrambled down the hill. Brandishing their sharp sickle claws, the angered Velociraptors viciously lashed at the animals, rendering any sights of attack. “Quick! Attack” yelled the Ibex, quickly pounding an attacking Velociraptor. However, another tremor had started. As fallen bits of ice dunes fell onto the Velociraptors, some of the mountains began to collapse. Desperate not to fall, one mountain shouted to the Ibex. “Go to the main mountain! For you shall see an orb there, beware…” and instantly, it collapsed. Taunted, the Ibex immediately pranced into the valley, speaking to the animals about the mountain’s message. Wasting no time, the animals very carefully climb up to the cliffs. “Destroy those animals” spitted the Velociraptors, as they scrambled up the mountain, but unexpectedly, an immense orb of light spun over the animals head. The spirit of the mountains came to rescue its citizens. As the orb rotated midair, it created a mighty avalanche of snow and rock, pushing the Velociraptors towards the wall of trees, crumbling them into bone and flesh. But suddenly, the remaining mountains began to tremble and move. When bam! The mountains had collided to each other, burying the raptors inside, moving the horizon just like it was before. And with that, all went silent. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Brian Lee, Fiction: Group 2

lanted in a seat at the airport was James Brown, a fairly tall man in his mid-thirties. He was going to board a Mongolian flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad. James’ plan was to go to the Gobi desert, a place he had read about all of his life but never went to. Finally, his chance had come. James idly checked his watch. A look of horror appeared Pon his face. It was 6:30, twenty minutes until the boarding gates closed. In a haste, James shoved his Smartphone into his pocket and dashed to his boarding gate. Little did he know, someone was watching him from afar... In Mongolia, James’ plan was to immediately go to the Gobi desert. James got in a jeep to get there. The ride went smoothly until the jeep suddenly started to shudder. “What’s going on?” James questioned the driver. “I think there might be something wrong with the engine but I just checked it this morning”, replied the driver. Just then, without warning the jeep stopped. The two men gulped and got out of the jeep. The driver immediately opened the bonnet and checked the motor. There seemed to be a hole in the bonnet and there was water leaking out of the motor. James remembered what he read about using a water jet to cut through metal. Suddenly, James started to wonder if the problem was only a defective radiator... In the desert, they found someone with a camel. The owner of the camel was willing to offer his camel in exchange for James’ small backpack which he had bought at the airport. However, it was only enough for one of them. “You go ahead”, James told the driver. “Don’t you want to go first?” asked the driver. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine”, James told him. The Driver thanked James and rode away on his camel. James sighed. In truth, James wasn’t okay. He had no food or supplies whatsoever and had no place to go. James started walking deeper in the Gobi desert but he soon realized his mistake. He had lost his sense of direction. James was about to lose hope when he found a few white tents in the distance. He quickly realized that it was a ger camp, the home of a dozen or so nomads. James knew that the nomad’s custom was that if you come across a ger camp, then you walk right in! When he walked into the tent, James met a friendly host called Yekeoyugun. Yekeoyugun explained that his name meant great wisdom, Yeke(great) Oyugun(wisdom). Yekeoyugun gave James some soup and salty tea. When James had thanked him and stood up to leave, Yekeoyugun gave him a dinosaur bone. James was confused. Why would he need a dinosaur bone? Yekeoyugun explained that the dinosaur bone was a parting gift, but he also told James to look after it carefully. “I trust you to keep it safe”, Yekeoyugun told James. James thanked him again and asked for the way out of the Gobi desert. Yekeoyugun told James to go left for two hundred and forty-five paces and to go right for the rest of the way. James left the ger camp with a light sack loaded with some food. After walking two hundred and forty-five paces, James was about to turn right when he stopped. The weight on his shoulders from his sack was gone. James spun around and saw... nothing. “What are you looking at? I’m behind you!” giggled a voice. James wheeled around and saw a strange man with crooked teeth and an even more crooked grin holding his sack. The strange man announced that his name was secret and that if James could guess the man’s name he would give him back his sack. “Okay, but why do you want my sack”, asked James. “I will tell you when you guess my name.”, said the man. The two men patiently waited and looked at each other for thirty seconds. “Oh wait, you’re not going to give me a hint?” James asked. The man snorted. ‘If I give you a hint it will be too easy.”, replied the man. James closed his eyes and started to think. After a few minutes, James opened his eyes and smiled. “I don’t have to guess your name, It’s Secret.” James answered. After giving back James’ sack Secret explained that the dinosaur bone Yekeoyugun gave James was the final bone Secret needed to complete his dinosaur skeleton. Secret gave the bone to Yekeoyugun to guard it. Yekeoyugun told Secret to wait at two hundred and forty-five paces to the ger camp and a man would come to send the dinosaur bone to him. James nodded but asked who damaged the jeep. “Oh that? That’s secret.”, Secret winked. After he got back home from the Gobi desert, James went to the dinosaur museum where Secret’s dinosaur skeleton was kept. Beneath that was a plaque about the history of how it was found. The title of the plaque was “New Tales of The Gobi Desert.” James absent-mindedly rested his hand against the plaque. All of a sudden, the plaque gave way to a hole which James fell through. “Hello! Nice of you to “drop” in.”, said a familiar voice. “What do you want me for Secret?” asked James. Secret handed James a book. It was made of leather and completely blank. Secret told James it was a notebook. Now James could write anything in it. So James started to write. Planted in a seat at the airport... The Journey Glenealy School, Samuel Riedel, Fiction: Group 2

Chapter One - Spying

Have you ever wondered what secrets the Gobi Desert holds? Well, I’ll tell you. I was going on an exploration in Mongolia. When I boarded my flight to Mongolia, I thought that I was being watched, like someone was following me. I veered around to see if anyone was there but no-one was there. When I got to my seat there was no-one on either side of me. I had a strange feeling there was. When I arrived in Ulan Baator, I went through Immigration and Customs. I headed towards the help desk and asked for directions to the camel hire area. The lady at the desk answered “shuluun ergej züün.” I asked “Do you speak English?” She replied “Go straight and turn left.” “Thank you.” I hired a camel and headed on my exploration.

Chapter Two - The Gobi Desert

We started trudging through the sand dunes. I noticed there were patterns in the sand dunes. I figured they were made by the wind when there were sandstorms. I whipped out my notepad and jotted down this fact. The night was falling and I built myself a fire. I was about to cook some food, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a gher. I jumped on my camel’s back and we hurried towards the gher. The gher was made of animal skins. I knocked on the door and a person came to the door. I asked “May I please spend the night with you because I have no place to sleep?” The man answered “Yes, you may stay. What brings you here?” I replied “I am an explorer and I have come here to explore the Gobi Desert. Can you please show me where I may sleep?” The man replied “You can sleep on this mattress.”

Chapter Three - The Key

I spotted an old mattress in the corner of the gher and walked over to it and laid down. Even though it was stuffed with sand, it was still comfortable. I began to doze. I had a vision that I would find a pit full of fortune.

* * * When I woke up next morning, the man was already up and he had made breakfast. It seemed like it was already 10 o’clock because it was so sunny. I ate my breakfast quickly, ran outside into the blazing sun and jumped on my camel. We began to walk through the sand dunes. About 10 or 11 hours later, I came across something glinting in the sand. It was a key. There was something that seemed different about it. It had strange markings on it. They glowed with blue light. With the key clutched tightly in my hand, we kept going late into the night. I stopped at an oasis and tied my camel to a palm tree. When we woke the next morning, we drank water and found some food in the oasis and started to trudge through the sand again.

Chapter Four - Captured

It felt like we had been walking in the sand for hours. Suddenly a sand storm began to rage. We kept walking even though it was very windy. I had to close my eyes because the strong winds would blow the sand into my eyes. I would rub my eyes on the camel’s coat as the sand storm raged on and on. Suddenly there were two men on either side of me. The one closest to me grabbed me from my camel. The next thing I knew, I was in a cell.

Chapter Five - The Secret of the Key

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in a courtyard. It was full of people wearing a symbol on their arm. I looked up to the man standing closest to me. It was Genghis Khan. Later that day, I was moved into Khan’s office. In the corner of the office was a blackboard, and on it was a picture of the key I had found! There was also a map of the Gobi Desert. There was a part highlighted in blue ink and it said The Room of Fortune (you need a key to unlock it).

Chapter Six - The Monk

Suddenly Genghis Khan burst through the doors. “You’re going to the dungeons” roared Khan. Minutes later, two men came in and dragged me to the dungeons. When I was sleeping, a strange feeling came over me. Something woke me up and in the shadows stood a monk. “I sense that you hold the key that unlocks The Room of Fortune. The key can also open any lock in Mongolia” whispered the monk. “So I could open this door all along?” “Yes” replied the monk. “I’m getting out of here right now!” “Remember, we have to be stealthy” cautioned the monk. “Yes, I will be. Now, let’s find this lock and get out of here.” “It is on the second last pole” explained the monk. I fitted the key into the slot and turned it quietly. We secretly hurried up the dungeon stairs. A second later, three guards walked by. We covertly moved behind a bookcase and hid inconspicuously. When they left, we crept out from behind the bookcase and hurried through the courtyard. Then I used the key to open the gate and then relocked it. Chapter Seven - The Fortune

We ran through the sand dunes. I was behind as the monk was leading the way. “Not far now” advised the monk. We walked a little further and the monk called excitedly, “It’s just here.” He stopped a few metres away and when I got there, I saw the keyhole. It had the same markings as the key. I placed the key into the keyhole and turned. The ground began to rumble and a staircase appeared. We walked down the stairs very quickly into a cavernous room. It was filled with gold!

And that’s how I became famous. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Aashi Shah, Fiction: Group 2

17th May 5005

Dear Diary, My name is Olivia Spur. I am nine years old and I have no parents or brothers and sisters because I lost them in a sandstorm last month when we went on holiday. My Mum is a photographer and my Dad is a journalist. So they took me and my sister on a holiday where they could also do their work. By the way, I am in the Gobi desert. I’ve learnt to cope with the weather, food and water conditions.

18th May 5005

Today I went searching for water and I found quite a lot. I also found a mixed-berry tree that had strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and even blackberries! I tried some of the berries and they were really tasty. Today must be my lucky day.

19th May 5005

Today I met some native people, called nomads. They were really nice. Their names were Sapphire, Gemma, Peter, and Carlos. Sapphire was pretty in a pink skirt with a half-sleeve purple top and a gold necklace. Gemma was wearing a neon orange dress with a gold necklace to match her bracelet. Peter looked cool in black and green shorts and a plain blue top. Carlos had ruby red shorts on and a bright green top. They were getting water for themselves and their animals.

20th May 5005

Today I played in the sand dunes. It was fantastic! I slid down the sand and then of course I had to walk up. I even saw some nomads riding some camels. I think they were taking their camels for a walk or maybe for a drink of water. They were talking in a language that I do not know. They tried to ask me something but of course I did not understand what they were saying.

21st May 5005

Guess what! Today I found a camera lying on the sand. I decided to keep it. I took loads of pictures with it. I got some really good ones. One of them was of a nomad lady riding a camel. I tried to speak to her in English and she understood! She promised to give me lessons on how to speak her language. I liked her.

22nd May 5005

Today was my first native language lesson. It was awesome. I loved it. The lady told me to call her aunty Rue. I learned very little but it was a good start. She even gave me lunch, which was scrumptious! Aunty Rue let me pet and feed one of her baby camels. They are called calves, or a calf. Its name was Nelly. Aunty Rue gave me a notebook and said that my homework was to practice what I learned.

23rd May 5005

Today I went to collect fruits for myself and Aunty Rue in return for her lovely lunch yesterday. I also took a video of a native woman singing a song. I practiced the song and I memorized it to show aunty Rue. I wrote the words for my homework. I did lots of things today. I even got a free ride on a camel!

24th May 5005

I had my second native language class today. Aunty Rue said that she would like to meet my parents and when I told her that I did not have any because I lost them in a sandstorm, she said that I must stay with her. Aunty Rue lives in a round tent called a Ger. Today I sang the song I learnt to aunty Rue. She said I was amazing! I made a friend called Via. Her name is similar to mine. She is also nine years old and she looks like me. She is super nice. We played all afternoon. We raced down the sand and then we raced up. Via is fast like me and we tied all our races. Via and I are like twins. I am beginning to think that Via is my long lost twin. My Mum once told me that I had a twin but she was lost in the Gobi desert.

25th May 5005

When I woke up, I forgot where I was for a second and then I remembered that I was at aunty Rue’s house. For breakfast, I had camel milk and berries. I like camel milk a lot. After breakfast, I went out and found Via. I asked her if she got lost in the Gobi desert long time ago and she said yes! Then I asked her what her last name was and she said Spur. Then I told her that she was my twin. Via said that last night she wrote in her diary that she and I might be twins because we both look alike and we both are good at the same things. Via told me that she lives with a lady called aunty Lirue. We played tag and then went to aunty Lirue’s house for lunch. We had goat cheese and millet bread! Then Via and I did sketches of each other. We are both brilliant at art. We then went to aunty Rue’s Ger, got my camera and took pictures of the sand dunes and nomads. We asked aunty Rue if she knew aunty Lirue and she said that that aunty Lirue was her twin! We asked her if Via and I could live together. She said that she and aunty Lirue were planning to move in together. They are moving tomorrow! They only have small and light things, so it is easy to move. For dinner, I had grilled vegetables and tomato soup. I haven’t had such a good dinner for ages. Now I am going to sleep so I need to put away my diary. Good night people! Sleep tight!

26th May 5005

Today we moved in together. I am so happy. I finally found Via. Even though I did not write before, I was always looking for Via. Now we are two happy twin sisters living happily ever after like in a fairytale when it goes….and they lived happily ever after…That’s the end of chapter 10. Like in the game ‘Apple on the Stick’ when it goes and that’s the end of chapter ten. It really is THE END. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Glenealy School, Inika Shah, Fiction: Group 2

egend says that long, long ago the Gobi desert was a sea. If it wasn’t for Hougus, it may still have remained a sea... When Hougus was walking to school, he noticed a sign which read: ‘The Great Sea, 3 kilometers.’ He knew that they lived quite close to the Great Sea, but certainly not this Lclose. Hougus continued walking towards the school but curiousness overtook sensibility and he inched back. Before he knew it, he was on the other path. The view was stunning, with clear blue water, millions of plants and fishes at the bottom of the sea and a tiny yellow dot in the distance, unmistakably, an island. A small bamboo raft was waiting at the banks of the sea. Without thinking, Hougus hopped onto the raft, gave it a small push and it glided away from the shore. After bobbing up and down helplessly for some time, Hougus spotted two branches drifting alongside the raft. They would do as oars, thought Hougus, as he reached out to grab them. After a few hours of rowing, the island was within sight. His food supply was running low, and there was only so much water one bottle could hold. So he was really happy at the sight of the island. White sand, tall trees bulging with numerous coconuts (the many years of climbing with his brothers would come in handy). Also, humongous pale white spotted eggs were dotted around the beach. A good breakfast was just what he needed. Only if he could manage to build a campfire to cook... He kept on daydreaming until a silver darting fish skidded through the water, splashing some on his head. That’s when he realized that one of his oars had slipped out of his hands. Great, thought Hougus, how could I be so careless! He anchored his boat at the shore and with his bag on his back, stepped in the knee-deep water and ventured inland. It was evening, so he found a dry spot, gathered a few twigs and dry leaves from nearby trees, to start a fire because it was freezing. Suddenly, he remembered that he had a lighter in his bag, don’t even ask why. He took the lighter out only to find it soggy and dripping wet. Hougus pressed the switch and it gave a hopeful spark before dying out. After trying several tries, it finally lit and before he knew it, the fire was roaring with life. Hougus was so tired that he fell asleep before he could think about dinner. The chirping of the birds woke him up at dawn. He decided on an egg and a coconut for breakfast. Hougus easily scaled a tree and shook the branch so fiercely that a shower of dozen or so coconuts hit the ground. With a satisfied humph, Hougus came down. He bashed the fruits on a rock until they all cracked open. After a filling of water and cream from six sweet coconuts, Hougus had to declare fullness. He decided to skip the eggs for today. Next, Hougus decided to explore the forest that was deeper into the island, but a deep growl coming from the forest that sounded suspiciously like a monstrous burp, made him back off. Instead, he explored the beach. With his feet ankle-deep in the water, he walked along the coastline and skimmed some rocks. Further into the water, a jellyfish chose that time to attack him. The first thing he did was to panic. He ran to the beach as fast as his legs could carry him, but his luck didn’t get any better and he tripped over a rock, falling face first into the sand. Somehow he managed to sit up and remove the tentacle. Hougus wanted to scream in pain as he applied leaves on the sting and tended his cuts. Tired from his misadventure, Hougus dozed off into sleep. When he woke up it was evening. He was not at all in a good shape; the bruises on his arms and legs and the jelly fish sting had started to swell. He had coconut water to quench his thirst and then went back to sleep on his bed of leaves. He woke up just in time for the sunrise. Hougus was feeling much better than the night and could even walk without having to stop every other minute. After watching the orange sun rise into the pale blue sky like the egg yolk cracking on to blue paper he started thinking about his own egg for breakfast. He half walked half dragged his foot to the nearest egg and tried to lift it. Hougus failed to succeed so he ended up rolling the egg towards his campsite. He stopped midway and turned around. He was sure he had heard something, that sounded just like the growl he had heard earlier. Only, much louder. He turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. Coming from the forest was the most monstrous creature Hougus had ever seen. It was about thirty meters wide and about as tall as the IFC and had ugly olive green skin and spikes bigger than a slice of Paisanos pizza size XXL. The thought of the monster gulping him down sent shivers up his back. He started to run but it felt like his legs were superglued to the ground. An enormous dust storm rose just at that moment. Hougus had to shield his eyes to prevent dust from getting in. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. When he opened his eyes, he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. “OW!” It was real. No, it couldn’t be. The water of the Great Sea was replaced by sand and now he was standing in the middle of a vast desert. Legend says the monster had drank up all the water. Hougus lived to tell the tale, and till this day no one knows the truth... The creature of the desert Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Chak Yan Lam, Fiction: Group 2

ccording to recent studies, the Gobi Desert was found to be …”, said the host. Doctor “ James Hunt had brought his son, Shaun Hunt to an archaeology forum in China to prepare for their seven-day trip to the Gobi Desert for a historical excavation. Their mission was to find a missing bone from a dinosaur to complete a whole set of skeleton. AThe team took a flight to Mongolia and rode on a 4×4 to enter the desert. It was Shaun’s first adventure so he was very excited. They had the exact location of the bones, 4 miles away from the car. They had to bear much caution as the Gobi Desert hides much dangers and its name bears the meaning of “Endless Sea.” There are numerous dangerous animals such as the Gobi bear and the poisonous snakes. The team was full of energy and was ready to go. They had bought everything but the kitchen sink and were ready to face the challenges ahead. They had to walk under that burning sun for two days to reach the specific location. They kept pouring water in their throats to prevent dehydration. On the way they were all looking out foe poisonous snakes and dangerous animals On the third afternoon, they had discovered the missing bone of the dinosaur. Shaun was very excited as his first adventure was a success and Dr. James was delighted as he knew he was going to be paid a large amount of money when he got back to Miami. The next morning the team did some research on the bone and bandaged it up. They had to walk six miles to go to the pick-up point. That night the whole team sat down around the campfire and James started telling the crew a story, “Every night the Mongolian Death worm, or the olgoi- khorkhoi, would come out to kill explorers. It is no normal worm; it can grow up to a metre long. They are red in colour and a bite from the worm can kill you. So watch out everyone as the next one maybe you…” The crewmen were all ears and still felt excited although they have listened to this legend for a million times. Shaun was trembling with fear though. He knew the story was unlikely to be true, but the sentence ” The next one may be you…” was still pondering in his mind. He closed his tent as tight as possible and worried all night and could hardly get any sleep. The next morning the crew were excited to head out of the desert. They talked all the way and didn’t notice anything crawling around and they were not worried in any way. During the night, they found that they were a bit behind schedule so they walked all night but still, they weren’t tired and kept on talking. Shaun joined in their conversation to keep away the anxiety. A little while after midnight, Shaun was feeling tired and fell a bit behind the rest of the crew. He felt a bite on his left foot. He looked back and saw a huge red object crawling away. He knew he was bitten by the Mongolian Death worm. He screamed and everyone looked at him. He claimed that he was bitten by the Mongolian Death worm but nobody believed him. They said that perhaps it was just a mosquito bite and it was no big deal. The next morning, Shaun was feeling pain when he was walking and found a horrible wound on his leg. He showed the crew and they were all shocked. His skin was rotting and it turned black. Dr. James didn’t want to loss his beloved son and carried him with his crew and ran as fast as he could. He had never seen a wound so bizarre. On the way, Shaun was starting to pass out and was in danger. That night, they arrived at the pick-up point and a helicopter took them to the nearest hospital in Mongolia. Shaun was unconscious by then. The medical devices in Mongolia weren’t in best shape and Dr. James was sweating all over. Fortunately, Shaun’s life was saved but his left leg has to be amputated, which means that he couldn’t go on any more excavations in the future. The doctor had never seen such a wound and he suspected that Shaun was bitten by a poisonous snake. Dr. James started to suspect that there might be a chance that the Mongolian Death worm exists. When they were back to Miami, everyone was amazed yet creeped out by the wound. Even the top doctors of the state didn’t have a clue of what had bitten Shaun. Whether it was a Mongolian Death worm or just a poisonous snake which had bitten Shaun, this mystery is still waiting to be solved, and so as the creature in the desert. The Adventure of Nico Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Ingrid Chan, Fiction: Group 2

n the year 2114, on the planet Jailius, in the planet’s jail, there was a female prisoner called Nico. She was stupendously dumb and incredibly unlucky. She was unlucky enough to be sent to jail even though she did nothing wrong! She stupidly went to the police station after she saw a “wanted” poster looking for someone who looked like her! IOne day the jail was too crowded so she was sent by spaceship to the Intergalactic Jail on planet Earth. Everyone on Nico’s planet learnt how to control spaceships but Nico had forgotten. Unfortunately, she crashed the spaceship onto the Earth. While she was falling, she screamed, “Help! I’m going to crash to the ground!” After she had landed, she saw the GPS screen in her spaceship with a text on it which introduced, “Welcome to the Gobi Desert! Here are some facts about it: 1. location : northwest China, planet earth 2. size: 1,295,000 km2 3. population :0. Enjoy your stay!” Nico thought that it was extraordinarily great that no one would ever annoy her. It was so hot that she lay down on the warm sand and tried to sleep. She looked at the clear sky free from light pollution. The sky was scattered with beautiful shining stars. She wondered which one of them was her home planet, then she fell asleep. After a while she woke up and found that she was freezing. However, she was too tired to do anything so she fell asleep again. The scorching sun woke Nico up in the morning. She needed a few things: food, water and a warm shelter. When she stood up and looked around, everything looked the same in all directions the first time, but then she saw a group of snow leopards coming toward her. There were no snow leopards on her planet so she didn’t know that they were dangerous and ran slowly. One of the snow leopards roared at Nico. Then she realized that they were dangerous enemies. So she ran as fast as possible. Suddenly, she fell into a hole and slid down a long slide into a cave. She looked around and realized that the cave was suitable for a shelter. She found that there were three gigantic golden treasure boxes inside. She opened all of them and found nothing in the first box. There were two huge fossilized dinosaur eggs in the second box and a machine with a label on it in the third one. The dinosaur eggs were worthless so she closed the box. The label on the machine showed that it belonged to Mars, but she knew that there wasn’t anyone on Mars ever and it might be handy so she took the machine with her. A sudden breeze blew a map of the whole Gobi Desert into the cave. Nico followed the route on the map and found a camel. So she traveled through the desert by camel. She said to herself that she might be one of the luckiest people on Earth. While travelling, she saw some dangerous scorpions and some cacti that had lots of sharp spikes. Cacti can keep water inside them and that’s why she took two with her. One beautiful morning, her camel stepped on a nest belonging to some silver ants and thousands of silver ants crawled up the back of the camel and also under Nico’s clothes. She immediately leapt off her camel and drove the evil silver ants away by jumping constantly. Then, she continued to travel. Nico who was naive first thought that it was really annoying to have ants to stay with her in a hot desert. But then she thought that it might be better to have ants to stay with her in a lonely desert. Soon she found her way to some gentle gazelles and thought that she was a genius to find them. She was starving after walking for many days so she asked the gazelles where she could find food. The gazelles led Nico to a building which was on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Nico was delighted to end her long journey and have food to eat. However, the building was the Intergalactic Jail and the guard recognized her and put her into the jail again! Her good luck was all used up! Lost in the Gobi Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Chu Lui Sum Kristen, Fiction: Group 2

t was a bright and sunny morning, and the snow was melting, forming pools everywhere. Winter was slowly going away; and spring was coming. On a sand dune, three Gobi bears – a mother and two cubs, were searching for food. It was still early spring, so food was scarce. The cubs were fighting for milk, pawing at each other and yanking their fur. Their mother Igazed at them. She smiled. The cubs were healthy and playful, and they would be great bears when they grow up. She padded away to pull up the roots of the wild rhubarb. “Quit hitting me, Branch. You know that I’m stronger than you.” “And more stupid!” said Branch. Branch aimed a blow to her brother’s head, only to receive a swipe from him. She bared her teeth, growling. Her heart was pounding. She felt a warm gush, and blood came trickling out. Branch yelped. She had never felt nor tasted blood before. With a mix of confusion and anger, she pounced at her brother, Bramble, taken by surprise. He immediately flipped over, pinning Branch to the ground. Their mother heard the racket and spun around. “Well! Have I told you not to fight before? And now! You even got hurt! You’re not a cub anymore. Stop fighting.” With a great “Humph”, she stomped away, leaving the two cubs cowering in shame. All of a sudden, the two cubs heard a tremendous roar, they turned, only to see the pelt of a massive beast forming. “ Mother! Mother! A sandstorm’s coming!” they cried, but their voice was drowned by the wind, and their mother kept walking away. The sandstorm kept coming, closer and closer. Their mother turned around, only to see the two cubs stumbling against the force of the wind. She ran to them, she cried to them in desperation, but it was no use. The sand swirled around, blinding the cubs. They tumbled around, falling into the darkness… “Ack! There’s sand in my mouth!” Bramble and Branch spat out the bitter sand, shaking off the dust stuck to their furry pelts. They looked around, but all they saw was rocks sticking out of the endless pathway of sand. “Where’s Mom? Where are we? I thought she was here just now…” Bramble widened his eyes. “You don’t think…” “Yes I do. You angered Mom and she went away, leaving us alone. We must find her! It’s no use standing here doing nothing…” She choked back tears. Bramble twitched his ears worriedly. “What if we don’t find her?” “Who knows if we could find her? But it’s most certainly worth a try.” Bramble agreed and they set off, searching for their mother over the miles and miles of sand… The brother and sister had walked for hours on the sand, and the rough sand was burning their pads, but they had not even got one single trace of where their mother could have been. “I’m thirsty and tired and I haven’t got one single thing to eat since the sandstorm! When are we going to stop? This is taking forever!” Bramble complained. Branch ignored him and kept walking. The sun had already gone down the horizon and night was creeping in. Frost was gathering on the boulders, and snow drifted slowly to the ground. Bramble shivered. The howling wind made it hard for them to focus. Suddenly, something caught his eyes. “Shush, Branch. Something’s moving. We should go and hide, like Mom said. She’s also warned us about how cold the weather could get. There’s a cave ahead. It should be safe. Let’s sleep away the night first and continue the search tomorrow, shall we?” “I’m not sure, Bramble. It might just follow us into the cave. Plus, it’s creepy down there.” Bramble ignored her and bounded into the dark, icy cave. “Hiss…” A distant hissing echoed through the cave, and a shiver went up Branch’s spine. The hissing was giving him the creeps, yet it did not affect Bramble. She walked further and further into the cave, searching for a good place to sleep. As she walked, the hissing got louder and louder, and soon, it stopped. Bramble found himself face to face with a snake – a viper. It stared at her with its black, beady eyes, and its scaly, green body coiled around the rocks in the cave. “Um, Bramble, didn’t Mom tell us that we shouldn’t annoy vipers? We should retreat slowly and get out of here.” Branch shifted uneasily. “What? You want to get out of the cave and get eaten by the thing outside?” “No, but…” “Let’s fight this viper together and stay here for the night.” Branch glanced at him, unsure if to agree or not. But Bramble leaped up and snapped at the viper, leaving Branch frozen in terror. She tried to lift her paw, but it was stuck there. All she could do was to watch as her brother fought the viper, and it snapping at him. At last, he pinned it down, but the viper had already bitten him, leaving two tiny holes bleeding black blood. “Bramble! Bramble! Are you alright? I never thought…” Branch choked on tears of regret, barely able to speak. Bramble leaned to one side, and spoke. “It’s not your fault, Branch. I… was foolish, and wanted to take on the viper.” “There’s no need to blame yourself, Bramble. It was all my fault.” “I’m sorry, Bramble. I should have helped you. I…”She staggered back, overcome with guilt. Bramble smiled weakly. “Be strong, Branch. We shall meet again someday…” His eyes closed for the last time, and his furry pelt struck the ground. Tears streamed down Branch’s face, and she slowly dragged herself out of the cave. As the last drop of snow drifted on Branch’s pelt, she felt a bit of warmth in her heart. Although Bramble had gone to another world, he will always be in Branch’s heart, reminding her of the life ahead of her. The Gifts of the Gobi Desert Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Chung Yuen Ching Eunice, Fiction: Group 2

long, long time ago, Gobi was not a desert. Instead, it was a gloomy land of stalagmites, rocks, and poisonous reptiles. A messenger from Jinta ran across Gobi to deliver an important parcel for the Mongolian princess, Modun. The brave messenger was named Chanyu. When he joggedA across the forsaken land, he accidentally stepped on a rattlesnake. It lashed out its long, claw-like fangs, dripping with poison. He yelled in fear. “Don’t touch me!” he screamed. But the rattlesnake didn’t care because it didn’t understand Mongolian. Chanyu stamped on its head and tied it to a stalagmite. That attack made him weary, so he brought out his supplies and started to eat a hasty meal, and kept on walking. After one week of walking, eating, and resting, he collapsed at the door of the Khara Khoto palace. The princess was as gorgeous as the legends say. She was wrapped in silk robes, as colorful as any rainbow in the sky. Despite her face having no makeup, she still looked dazzling. As they always say: natural beauty is the best. “Your Majesty Princess Modun, here is your requested parcel.” He backed away and bowed. The princess smiled. “Thank you, Chanyu. You have done me a great service.” Chanyu gasped. How did she know my name?! The princess seemed to read his thoughts. “I am a sorceress, brave one. I finally have the final ingredient to finish the Potion of Ten Wishes: a witch’s brain!” GROSS!!!!! Chanyu’s mind screamed. Princess Modun opened the parcel and put the brain into a bubbling golden cauldron. She chanted an ancient spell, and green smoke billowed out. “Chanyu, name your three wishes. Oh, and don’t say I’m not worthy, Your Majesty!” I was about to say that! How on earth did she know?! “Chanyu! Stop thinking that! I am a sorceress, of course I know!” A really charming princess! Chanyu thought. What did he want most? He thought about Gobi. It was a really dangerous place. As he was a messenger, he needed to go out and in all the time. Why not make it more pleasant? “Princess Modun, I have decided two wishes. My first wish is to let the stalagmites and poisonous reptiles in Gobi to be buried by a thick layer of soft sand. Let Gobi become a mixture of sand and sea.” Her Majesty hurried over to the cauldron, scooping up a goblet of frothy potion. “Hold on to that thought. Remember, there is no turning back. Drink this.” She handed him the goblet. He held his breath and drank the potion. It tasted like sand and water, just as his wish. It occurred to him that he was drinking witch brain. Suddenly, the sky started showering sand and water over Gobi. After a few minutes, Gobi was a desert of sand. As the sky rained water, sometimes an oasis would appear. Chanyu was delighted. But there were no greens. “My lady, may I take another goblet of Wishing Potion?” Princess Modun didn’t reply. That means ‘yes’, Chanyu thought. He reached into the cauldron and pulled out another goblet. I wish Gobi will have trees to give travelers shelter and dates. He drank the potion. This time it tasted like dates. Trees sprang out of the sand in an instant. Chanyu’s idea of Gobi became the famous desert nowadays. He jumped into the sand and started to explore the new Gobi. He found difficulties when coming back to Khara Khoto. It was impossible to walk in the sand without lifting up his legs. He marched back to the palace. “May I have a final wish, Your Majesty?” The princess did not reply again. That ALSO means ‘yes’. He pulled out a goblet for the last time. I wish for an animal that is designed for travelling through the deserts, and it can survive the harshest condition of the deserts. He drank the potion. Strangely, it tasted like poop and meat. He gagged. This animal must love to poop all over the place. Something popped out of the cauldron. It was an animal with a big hump on the back, long eyelashes and strong, sturdy legs. I call it a camel, the ship of the desert. Her Majesty Princess Modun looked impressed. “Chanyu, most men would rather wish for riches. You are not greedy, so I won’t turn you into a beetle. Your wishes will benefit mankind for many generations. You are the quintessential model of how the perfect man is to be.” “Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty,” said Chanyu modestly. “Actually, why did you give me the choice to wish?” “You have a good heart. The other reason… you’ll find out in a moment. Can you do me a favor?” asked Princess Modun. “As Your Majesty wishes.” replied Chanyu. “The next time I ask you a question, say yes.” Such a strange request, thought Chanyu. Hey Chanyu! A voice echoed in his head. It must be Her Majesty. As I said, you are the quintessential model of how the perfect man is to be. I have NEVER SEEN a man this perfect. This is a question. Please answer yes. So, WILL YOU STAY WITH ME? The legend behind Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Li Wai Lam, Fiction: Group 2

took a flight to Mongolia with my friends, Natalie, Edward, Sabrina, Kelvin and Katie. They didn’t seem to be excited at all as I forced them to go to the Gobi Desert. It wasn’t an ideal place for them. They wanted to go to Paris. But Paris is too romantic for me. The flight took us three hours. After eating those flight meals which made me wanted to Ivomit, we finally arrived. “Wow!” said six of us at the same time, looking at the window.”That’s beautiful! Isn’t it?” said Natalie. “I told you. You’re going to love this place so much!” I said. Natalie poke out a silly face and stuck out her tongue at me. After we got off the plane, we got our luggage and checked our passports. We could finally get out the airport. “So we’re not going to live in hotels. Instead of hotels, we’re going to live in a yurt!” “I’ve booked a local bus to drive us to the Gobi Desert. Let’s go now!” “Sure!” they said. As we got onto the bus, strange things happened. The driver was gone but the bus was moving! I rubbed my eyes to see if I was wrong. Then, the driver was here, humming a ballad. “Are you okay?” asked Kelvin. “Yea, I guess. I’m just too tired.” He wrinkled his eyebrow and got his attention back on his phone. The scenery passed by was amazing. Goats were eating grass. There was a large piece of prairie. I captured this scenery immediately. I could smell grilling beefs in a distance. It made me felt hungry. We’ll be arriving the Gobi Desert for just an hour. So I took a nap. When I opened my eyes, I saw that all my friends were gone. I was shocked. I jumped off my seat and saw that they were packing their belongings at the back of the bus. “Oh, you’re awoke? We’re just packing our things. There’s a construction on the road in a few miles away. The bus cannot move forward. So we can only walk there on foot.” said Sabrina. “Go pack your things! Gobi Desert is just in a distance!” “I see.”I replied her vaguely. After packing our things, it’s time for us to go. So we waved the driver and we went walking to Gobi Desert. After lots of sweating and panting, Gobi Desert was just in front of our eyes! We were all amazed by the momentum of it. We all took a deep breathe. Just in a distance, a woman waved us. We walked towards her. She greeted us and pointed at the yurt that we were going to live in. We went into the yurt and put our belongings inside. Mongolians were passionate. They did us a Mongolian dance and cooked us some traditional Mongolian snacks when we arrived. “Why don’t we take off our shoes and take a walk on the desert?” I suggested. “That’s a great idea!” said Natalie. We took off our shoes and began to step on the sand. “It’s so smooth!” said Edward. “And pure too!” added Katie. “Maybe you’ve chosen a good place, Belle.” said Katie to me. I smiled. Time passed quickly, it’s already evening. Temperature began to drop and it’s frigid. We went back into the yurt. We saw that hot dishes had been prepared for us. We looked at each other and giggled. We ate all and it tasted delicious.”We better not to go outside now, there’s a sandstorm.” I said. They nodded their heads. Outside was deserted. It was very tranquil. It felt creepy, too! We chat with each other for an hour. “It’s boring, man! I want to sleep!” said Katie. And she fell onto her bed. “Let’s sleep then.” I said. When I opened my eyes, it’s already midnight. Natalie and Edward were gone! I peeped outside and saw they were chanting. “They’re Buddhist? How come I never knew that?” I whispered to myself. It seemed that the storm has stopped. So I went outside. “What are you guys doing? Come back! It’s cold!” I muttered. “What are you doing here then?” I heard a voice behind me. It was Katie. “See, they’re chanting!” I said. Katie stood in amazement. Then she stepped forward to my side. Suddenly, I saw two of them turned into dust and gone. Katie and I were trembling with fear. We immediately ran back into the yurt to calm ourselves down. Then I slept on the same bed with Katie. We hold each other’s hand tightly with our hearts beating fast. There was no sign of Natalie and Edward. The next day, Natalie and Edward was still gone. Sabrina and Kelvin opened the tent of the yurt for fresh air. They both shouted in fear. Katie and I joined them immediately and what we saw was... Natalie and Edward were dead! Their dead body laid outside of our yurt. Their heads were bitten, full of blood. “No——!” we screamed. Suddenly chilling wind blew on our face and the driver who drove us here suddenly appeared! He was holding a cigarette, humming the same ballad, floating over the sand. “It’s me.” said the driver. “Do you remember the prairie? It was the place that Natalie and Edward were born. Their mother brought them away from us since they were born. They had broken our laws. So we expelled them from our tribe.” “And once they come back, we’ll kill them and let them be eaten by wolves.” “Maybe it’s because their mother didn’t tell them about the story, that’s why they came here.” “I’ve killed them. I must. So I need you to take Natalie’s place. It is a tradition for us to do this. Now don’t be afraid, step forward and close your eyes.” I did what he told me to do as I was totally hypnotized. I didn’t know what was happening. I closed my eyes. “3 2 …...” He poked a knife into my heart. I screamed. I felt suffocated. Things next to me kept on twirling and twirling. I felt dizzy. Then, I expired. Suddenly, I heard someone shouting my name “Belle! Belle! Calm down!” I opened my eyes and saw it was Dad. “Daddy!” I cried. I hugged him tightly. “It’s okay now. You’ll feel better tomorrow.” He switched off the night light around me. I lay on my bed and said to myself. “You’re too nervous about the trip to Gobi Desert. Take a rest. Mongolia is going to be great. Forget about it, it’s just a dream.” I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Purple Sand Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Tam Sum Yuet Joyce, Fiction: Group 2

he sand blew on my face, causing me to inhale some and cough. I tried to shut my nostrils like my companion, Cammie the camel did whenever there was sand, but I couldn’t without my hands. My hands were occupied, holding a large map and compass. The heat scorched my dark hair, making me feel as if it was alighted on fire. I patted Tmy hair just to make sure, and dropped my compass on the ground. Cammie snickered at my clumsiness, and I cuffed her on the ear lightly for being rude. I was on the quest to find the precious sand that everyone was talking about these days. It would give you great fortune that would last fifteen lifetimes, and if you gave it to someone in need, you would be granted special powers. My stomach rumbled as I thought about the sand. I hadn’t cooked breakfast for myself yet, in the hurry to leave my hometown and venture into the desert looking for the sand. I took an egg out from my hot backpack and looked at Cammie. “Well Cammie, I guess it’s time to find out if I can really cook an egg here.” Cammie blinked at me lazily. I ate my egg, which, could be cooked, and continued my trudge through the heated sand. I was relieved that I had brought boots with me on the journey, as the sand sometimes came up to my knees and it could have easily burnt my skin. It was that hot in the Gobi Desert. I always imagined deserts to be hot, but I had never felt it before in my entire life. Just standing out in the sun for a minute could lead you to a whole tub of sweat. The sand I was looking for was supposed to be purple, and it blew along in the wind. It’s rare, and that’s half of what makes it so valuable. No one knows where the sand came from though. Some say the gods above us dropped it accidently, while the others say it was there since the beginning of time. I don’t mind where it originated from; I just want to have it. I whipped up my camera and snapped a few photos of my surroundings. I took some selfies with Cammie too and I was having a jolly time. The occasional locals stared at me as if I was insane, but I didn’t mind. The heat was probably getting to me. I wrapped a white turban around my head in hopes to keep it cooler, and continued my quest. Many weeks later, I spotted a lone hare. It caught my eye as it didn’t disappear at the sound of footsteps. The hare danced around when it saw me approach and I found that rather absurd. I didn’t mind it, so I continued searching. The hare, to my surprise, followed me. I turned around, finding it all rather strange. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the hare vanished into purple specks of sand. The specks of sand looked magical, unlike any I’ve ever seen. I was mesmerized by the scene and nearly forgot about it, but I managed to regain my senses and trapped the sand in a bottle. The wind gradually died down and when it was completely gone, the sand disappeared too. I cried out in frustration. I kicked a boot off my foot towards the sand, and in the process, my foot got burnt. I slipped it back on and threw my bottle at the sun, hoping it would just quit being so big and hot. Cammie who was standing next to me all along let out a long snort. I assumed Cammie was just feeling compassion for me, but then I remembered the camel rental man said that Cammie only did that when she was near someone she was friends with. Cammie was along me the whole time, and she didn’t make a sound, but then… I slowly turned around, and found the hare sitting neatly between Cammie’s front legs, its big ears wagging up and down. Cammie gently nudged the hare under her belly to provide more shade for it. How nice of her. I didn’t really understand anything, but I had the most preposterous guess. I didn’t really feel like asking the hare if it was true, so I just stared at the camel and hare bonding. After a couple of minutes, I remembered what I should be doing and started to resume my search for the sand, but I strangely didn’t have the urge to do so. Something made me look at the hare again, climb onto Cammie and head back home. I was on the newspapers and televisions everywhere the next week. I had decided to stay back in the Gobi Desert to hang around until the news died down. I had claimed the purple sand mine and it was still with me when I got back home. My guesses were correct. The hare was actually the purple sand. It seemed that whoever saw the hare it would be forever theirs to keep, until the owner decided what they should do with it. The hare would turn into purple dust when there was wind, and when it was purple dust, you could be granted wishes and fortune, etc. I had decided to give the purple dust, or hare, back to the Gobi Desert. I found that I didn’t really need it much, and so I believe I had made the correct decision. If you ever come across the Gobi Desert, look for a hare. Not just any hare, but a special hare that feels just right. For, that is the hare that is purple sand, and will give you great fortune that will last fifteen lifetimes, or special powers. The Magical Golden Box Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Tsui Yu Hei Iris, Fiction: Group 2

y name is Bactria Opal. During my summer vacation last year, my parents took me to visit a special temple in northern Mongolia along the Gobi Desert. I had no idea why my parent brought me to such barren place. My journey began when we visited this temple. My father told me that it was a Mwish from my grandfather that we had to visit this temple. While walking around the temple, I saw something strange. It was a golden box. Curious, I picked it up. It looked ordinary. I decided to bring it back. For a few days, I kept trying to open the box. Even my father could not open it. I spent sleepless nights thinking what could be inside. A week later after coming home to Hong Kong, I had a dream. In my dream I saw my grandfather showing me how to open it. It was like a puzzle. When I woke up, my heart began to race, wondering what might happen when I finally get it to open. Remembering the trick my grandfather showed me, I opened the box. Mist swirled out! I tried to run away, but it was too late. The mist wrapped around me and I felt myself spinning round and round. After a long moment, I landed in a sea of sand. All I could see were sand dunes and a few plants. Sunlight burned into my eyes. The land seemed terribly dry. I picked up the golden box and walked for a long time trying to find anything that lives, but I could not find any. I looked up. The sun was setting. I started to panic because I did not have any food, water, fire, and shelter for the night. I began to run, trying to find something or someone to help me. Just when darkness surrounded me, I stumbled upon a sand dune, out of breath. I was getting desperate. The moon loomed over the dry prairie. I slid down the sand dune and carried on walking. I whirled around and saw a shape galloping towards me. It was an animal, yet I did not know what kind it was. I stumbled backwards in fear and tried to run. But the sand was too deep. The hoof beats got louder and louder, filling me with terror. I began to run, trying desperately to shake off the dark shape. No use. I looked over my shoulder, in time to see the shape lower its head. I screamed. Just before I managed to open my eyes, I felt something licking me. I looked up and gasped. A camel was leaning against me. Slowly, I rose my feet, not daring to take my eyes off the creature. It walked cautiously closer. The camel somehow knew I was starving and showed me how to gather dates – the fruit of the desert. At this point, I felt a little more relief, and I said to myself, “finally I have found a companion in this barren land.” We journeyed for days until we finally reached a kind of “road.” Just before the moon rose over prairie again. I saw a yurt in a distance. Before I could knock on the door, an old man opened the door. He had a long beard and kind eyes. “My, my!” said the old man, “a camel and a little girl at my door after the moon has risen? Come in.” After I finished my story, the man gaped at me. “Bactria Opal?” he muttered. “Is it really you?” Puzzled, I nodded. The man took my golden box and said “I am your father. I was whisked away by the same golden box to here. I have been stranded in the desert for over 20 years. Oh, Bactria, you know what, that golden box was a time machine, it took you and me to different ages! We have been brought back to some 800 years. We are now in Mongolian empire!.” My eyes widen with disbelief! “My father is only 40, but this old man looked over 80 years old.” The old man did not stop. He went on and said that the only way back was to find the key for the golden box. I could not sleep that night. Thoughts of finding the golden box could not leave me. I decided to step out of the yurt to look into the dark sky and think. Just then, I saw a falling star in the dessert sky and another strange thing happen. The camel, who saved me walked up to me slowly. “Bactria,” it gasped. “Bactria!” It shook it’s head and pushed me with it’s neck. I shook my head in delight and wonder, “the camel can talk? That so unbelievable!” That night, my camel told me legends about the golden box in Gobi. It said that golden box belonged to a Mongol warrior. People believed the golden box had some kind of hidden power that helped the warrior to win all the battles. But the hidden power could only be unlocked by a key. It hit me at this point. “My grandfather! He left me a necklace with a symbol of crescent moon, and that crescent moon looked exactly the same as the symbol on the golden box.” I thought, “my necklace maybe the key.” I examined my necklace carefully. I found a few characters craved on it. It read “gobi warrior.” And immediately when I finished reading the two words, all the things inside the yurt started to spin. I turned around and wanted to hold on to my camel. But it was too late, I was drifted away by the golden box together with the old man. The old man held me in his arms and I saw his beard disappearing. When everything stopped spinning, I was back in my room in Hong Kong again, and I was in my father’s arms. The Valley of the Dragon Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Yip Hoi Tung, Fiction: Group 2

ello, my name is Sheep. I’m ten years old now. I have a strong father: Ming, he works at the camel rides in the Gobi Desert. A beautiful mother: Mei, she dusts our home and looks after us. And also my three siblings: Moon, Sun, and Star. Also, when Father and Sun are at the rides, Mother and Moon stitching stuff and Hlooking after Star, I went to my secret place to play. It’s called the Valley of the Dragons. I love to play with sand and small rocks and finding dinosaur bones and eggs there, I’m glad it’s mine. Then one day, when I was playing there again, some strange people came with strange tools. I was horrified. Did Sun tell them I stole his boots and they’ve come to kill me? I quickly hid behind a rock. Peeping out of the rock, I saw them stopping not far from me and began to dig with their tools. Dig, dig, dig…then one of them bent down and took out…a dinosaur bone! My dinosaur bone! I was furious. “What are you doing, digging up my dinosaur bones?” The people stopped their digging and stared at me. “Nothing,” one of them finally said, scowling, “and this is not yours.” I could do nothing but watch as they gathered up a few more bones and jumped into their jeep, driving away. I let them go, I still got plenty of bones to myself, and they would never come back with me guarding here. I was wrong. They came the next day, and the day after that, and so on. Each time, they’ll take a huge bagful of bones and eggs with them. Well, if all the bones and eggs are gone in the future, blame those bad people. But worse things are to come. After some time, when those people came again, they had a big machine along with them. It dug up tons and tons of bones and eggs every single day. I believe that the bones and eggs would be gone much faster. After they did this for one or two days, I knew I’ve got to do something. I want my future wife and children to know this wonderful place…okay, maybe Moon’s and Sun’s and Star’s too. And then my grandchildren will know here, and my…you get what I mean, right? So when I got home, I stole a ragged piece of cloth, squeezed some lamb blood onto my forefinger, and I began to draw my thoughts about how my children will never see this wonderful place. After I finished it, I rolled it up and slipped it into my jacket I would wear to the Valley of the Dragons. When I went to bed that night, I clenched my fists: I must succeed. The next morning, I went to the Valley of the Dragons as usual. But this time, I stood boldly in everyone’s sight, determined written all over my face, ready to face them. When they finally came, they had no machine with them, and these are not the same people, these gave me a different impression: professional. They were taken back when they saw me, and even more surprised when I shoved them my piece of cloth. But they roared with laughter at once when they knew what I meant. I was confused. Finally one of them replied, “Oh, you’re so honest. But don’t worry, we’re only doing a research, most of…ah, your bones will be back in no time.” “Then why did you take tons and tons of them? Do you need that much?” The people muttered against themselves before they answered. “Look here, kiddo, we didn’t come here before, perhaps you’re mistaken.” a big, burly man replied. “But you never came here before, who did?” I asked. “Hmm…” the first man said aloud, “it has to be illegal companies, they developed a sudden interest in old fossils and stuff like that.” I must have a shocked expression on my face because a woman merged out of the group and said, “Don’t you worry, sonny, we will track down those naughty people for you and give your fossils back. It will as if it was there all the time.” I nodded, feeling much better now. “Thank you,” I mumbled, and then I skipped home, feeling carefree and light-hearted. Search For The Death Worm Harrow International School Hong Kong, Jake Brockwell, Fiction: Group 2

y name is Tom. My Dad is an explorer who’s looking for the fabled acid-spitting, electric - shocking Mongolian Death Worm. His arch rival is Dr. Farrier. Dad brought me and my friend Bobby along to stay with Cepix, a shepherd living in the Gobi desert. It was a 2 day car ride then a 3 day horse ride south from Ulan Bator to MCepix’ ger. Dad took all of the horses and went to look for the worm. He said he would be back before dark the next day. Bobby and I woke up to the sound of sheep and the smell of roasted yak. After breakfast we went outside into the dry, hot air and practiced archery. We loaded our bows with Mongolian whistle arrows. Bobby accidentally shot, I heard the whistling coming towards me! I ducked, the arrow hit a strange thing behind me. There was a big hiss. I turned around. The thing was blood red, it had spikes all over its body and spat acid at us. A Mongolian Death Worm! It jumped out of the sand and grabbed a sheep, it then ate it alive and disappeared into the ground... We set out to find Dad and tell him about the worm. After a few miles we walked down a hill. It was steep. I fell into a deep hole. Was I in a worm hole? I thought. Then I saw them. The rare berries the worm was supposed to like, and, lots of scorpions???! Oh no! I’m in a scorpion nest! I quickly picked the berries and shouted up to Bobby. The scorpions were getting closer! Bobby threw down a vine and I started to climb. Then the biggest scorpion swiped its tail at me. Whew! It missed. I climbed out and we ran back to the ger. After a lunch of yak we went outside and held a 15-round wrestling contest. Here’s the list of wins: Bobby 7, me 1, Bobby 7. It was getting dark. Where’s Dad? He should be here by now! The next day Dad still wasn’t home, where could he be? Then Bobby asked “Could it be Farrier, since he’s your enemy?” Dr.Farrier! I thought. “You’re a genius Bobby!” I said. Bobby, Cepix and I set off to find Dad. We had yak to eat and yak milk to drink. Half way to Farrier’s camp we saw Death Worm again! It looked angry! We dropped our bags and ran! And so the worm was left to eat our food... Suddenly Bobby tripped and started rolling down the dune. He bumped into the worm! I covered my eyes and feared the worst. It attacked Bobby, its fangs bared, its snake-like body coiled up to strike. “The berries! The berries!” I shouted. Bobby was frozen in fear, but I knew what to do. I ran down and ripped the berries out of the bag, then I threw them into the worm’s mouth, it stopped attacking Bobby and started trying to let us onto his back. “What happened?” I asked Bobby. The Run Away Girl Harrow International School Hong Kong, Molly Fox, Fiction: Group 2

t was six o’clock in the morning. Arianna had just risen from her thin blankets on the mouldy floorboards. She stood up with sleepy eyes and tousled hair; she walked down the hallway that leads from the room with blankets to a room with a couple of cupboards and homemade table with rocks as seats. She went to the first cupboard and pulled out some Ihomemade bread and goats milk. She gulped down some goats milk and nibbled on the bread. She left it all on the table and walked out of the door into the cold outside. “Arianna? Arianna? Arianna are you out there?” Arianna’s stepmother was calling. “Cleo, I am coming!” shouted Arianna angrily. Arianna didn’t call her stepmother mum she just called her by her real name: Cleo. “Come inside now! I will beat you if you do not come in!” Cleo left all the work to Arianna and would beat her if it was not done in two seconds. Arianna hated her stepmother, she would have preferred her father not to remarry after her mother’s death, but he did. And now he was gone too. “Why is life so unfair?” Arianna muttered as she walked back up to the house. Cleo stood in the doorway glowering at Arianna. She was incredibly fat unlike her six stepchildren. “OW!” screamed Arianna. Cleo was beating her with a strip of leather. “OW!” she screamed again. “Oh, be quiet child,” said Cleo with a mixture of disgust and annoyance. “The whole town could hear you.” Cleo slapped her. Arianna turned around. “What do you think you’re doing?” Arianna screamed. “Beating me for no good reason? My father thought that you would do us some good. Like our life back in London. And guess what? You drive us into the middle of the Gobi Desert to a small town.” There were tears in Cleo’s eyes. She had loved the Gobi Desert all her life; it was the only place she had ever wanted to live. “And you sit on your backside all day, while I have to do all the farming and all the house work!” Arianna carried on. Cleo stared at her amazed; no one had ever dared to stand up to her, and here her stepdaughter was shouting at her. Cleo opened her mouth to shout back, but Arianna was already out the door. Arianna ran and ran. She didn’t feel the cold anymore, her brain wasn’t concentrating on that, it was concentrating on running. The further away from that tiny village the better. Suddenly Arianna stopped. She heard a muffled scream. Where was it coming from? She thought. She only had to walk a couple of metres to find out. There on the side of the path was a young man, he was gagged and his hands were tied behind is back and his feet tied together at the ankles. Beside him was a group of what looked like highwaymen, they were laughing over something that was apparently hilariously funny. “Here she comes,” jeered one of the highwaymen. “You told us your girlfriend would be coming.” The young man struggled with ropes that were stopping him from running. Arianna stared at the highwaymen. “You look familiar,” said Arianna. They all laughed. ‘No, seriously, I know you.” She glared at them. “Should we tie her up as well?” Asked one of them. The others shook their heads. “You are people who live in the wooden huts!” Said Arianna. “I knew there was something strange about your part of town.” The highwaymen had disappeared. They had let Arianna go since she had nothing with her. Arianna had hidden round the corner waiting for them to go. She had waited two long hours, but finally they left, and the young man stayed tied up on the ground. Arianna walked over to the man, got out her pocketknife and started to cut the rope off the man. “Who are you?” she asked as she ungagged him. He smiled, “Ashai,” he smiled again. Arianna pulled him off the floor. “Where are you going?” Ashai asked her. “Where no one will find me,” she replied. He smiled again. “Your smile is really putting me off. So please stop!” He stopped smiling. Suddenly everything was silent. Suddenly Ashai screamed, “Do you know who I am?” Arianna shook her head slowly. “I am the Prince of Opleca!” He replied. Arianna shook her head again. “Oh, so you’re the little snobbish Prince? The one who ordered every single man of the city to build you your own palace?” Arianna glared at him. Ashai sheepishly nodded his head. Arianna turned her back to him and started to walk. “Come back! Come back! I order you to come here now!” He screamed. Arianna turned around. “You have no manners. Do you think that I’m going to travel with someone who has no manners?” Ashai shook his head slowly. “Well, that’s right!” Ashai hid behind a corner, Arianna was several hundred meters ahead. “Hey, wait up!” Ashai shouted, running at full speed. Arianna turned around her eyes stone cold. “What are you doing? I left you behind! I thought it was clear that you weren’t coming!” She spat angrily. Ashai glared at her. “Where are you going anyway? You won’t achieve anything following me! I’m not even passing Opleca.” He glared at her again. “I am not sure where I am going.” He said in a careless voice. “I don’t want to go back to Opleca anyway, my stepfather would just whip me!” Arianna stared at him in disbelief. “You get whipped?” Ashai nodded. “I always get whipped by my stepmother!” It was Ashai’s turn to stare at her in disbelief, Arianna smiled. “ You know we’re quite similar. We both get whipped, both are stepparents are horrible to us and we are both running away!” Ashai nodded his head. “Do you want to go with me?” Ashai smiled broadly and nodded his head. Off they went, into the dunes. THE HUNT Harrow International School Hong Kong, Jenny Kim, Fiction: Group 2

e’re here.” May, Eric, Leo and Annabeth had arrived to find a treasure hidden in “ the Gobi Desert. Eric was gazing in his guide book on the page that says “Magic in the Gobi Desert.” “It says here” Eric read, “That magical stuffs are usually found in a temple called Damba Daryalan Sum temple.” “It’s in the East of the Gobi Desert.” “ThenW what are we waiting for?” cried May. “Let’s go!” So the 4 friends walked East, following the map in Eric’s guide book. On their way, Annabeth borrowed a camel from a kind man called Tom. He also showed May & Leo how to build Ger, which are known as Mongolian tents, while Annabeth & Eric were studying a wild horse. Tom even offered them a stay in his Ger. “That’s very kind of you, but we need to be going.” replied Leo. “After we find the treasure, we’ll pay you back for all your kindness.” “And your camel.” added May. The 4 friends headed to the Damba Daryalan Sum temple. “I Found the fact page” explained Eric. “There are 10 monks living in the Damba Daryalan Sum temple.” “I think we’re here” called Annabeth who was not listening to Eric. “Really?” cried Leo, gazing at the Damba Daryalan Sum temple. It had a huge, gray staircase, leading to the golden gates. “It’s enormous” cried May. Eric, Annabeth, Leo & May pushed and pulled trying to go in first. Finally they all tumbled in to the narrow hallway. They all started to walk along in the hallway. They all remained silent. Nobody said a word. Then, they saw 10 monks praying. “Eric, didn’t it say on your book that there were 10 monks living in the temple” whispered Annabeth. “It did on the facts page. You just didn’t listen” Eric whispered back. “Who’s there?” called the monk in the middle who was named Satri. “Whoever you are come out, we won’t hurt you.” “He looks kind” said May nervously. “And they might be able to help us with the treasure” agreed Leo. May pushed Eric to where the 10 monks were. Annabeth, May & Leo followed. “Excuse me, could you help us?” whispered Leo. “Were looking for a treasure in this temple” Annabeth continued. “So, do you know where it is?” “Hmmm…” “You have your treasure with you” said Satri, calmly. “What do you mean?” asked Eric, curiously. “You have your treasure with you” repeated Satri. “It’s your braveness, kindness & friendship, that is your treasure you found in the Gobi Desrt.” “But, but how do we pay back Tom if we don’t have money or jewels?” asked May. “You can pay him back with your kindness to him” said Satri. May, Eric Leo & Annabeth walked down the narrow hallway, out the Damba Daryalan Sum temple. They were on their way to Tom’s Ger then home, happy that they found the treasure. DESERT DREAM Harrow International School Hong Kong, Betsy Rowold, Fiction: Group 2

um, do we have to go to the tombs?” asked Ellie. “Well, your dad and I would like to “ go,” answered Ellie’s mum. “Are we there?” asked Jackie, in his baby voice. Jackie was only five. He had his parent’s blond hair, and his mum’s lovely brown eyes. Ellie, on the other hand, had her Dad’s emerald eyes, and brown hair - different to the Mwhole family. Some people asked if they were really related! The Smiths were on holiday; their first time in China. Kate, Ellie’s mum, had always wanted to visit Beijing. Beep. Beep. BEEP! Mum parked the car. “Finally,” thought Ellie. “Woah! this place is amazing,” said Mum. “Breathtaking,” Dad agreed. “Cool,” added Jackie. “Let’s go!” said Mum happily. She was so excited, she got out of the car and sped off. “Um, honey, what about Jackie?” shouted dad. “Oh!,” mum cried, and ran back to take her son out of his car seat. The Smiths entered the tombs through a towering, cardinal red gateway, crowned with yellow glazed tiles, and walked down a gloomy staircase. “See, there’s nothing here!” Ellie whispered. After walking around the dark halls, eventually, the Smiths re-emerged into the bright day. “See, I told you there would be nothing in there, nothing!” grumbled Ellie walking back towards the car. “This is interesting,” said Dad. “My guidebook says, the gateway to the tombs is supposed to have magical powers!” “Yeah right,” mumbled Ellie, as she went through the gateway. “Well, I wish it would magic us hundreds of miles away!” Suddenly, a flash of light surrounded the Smiths! “Where are we?” said Ellie drowsily. “Wait are we…in a Yurt!” “Yurt!” shouted Jackie. “What?” said dad. “No, who?” said mum, pointing in shock at the four other people in the room. Standing in front of them was another family of four. The mother, Bayarmaa, was wearing a del of olive-coloured silk and a round cap decorated with long strands of blue and red beads. Odval, a girl Ellie’s age, was wearing a blue silk del with a yellow sash, black leggings, brown boots, and a round cap with beads. Bataar, a little boy like Jackie, wore a grey cotton del and round fur cap. Sikh, the father, wore a del of brown cotton and grey cap. They all had brown eyes, and thick black hair “Hello. Do you know where we are?” asked Ellie. “And how we got here?” asked Dad. “I am Odval. This is our home, the Gobi desert! Why, you have come from Beijing, haven’t you?” said the girl in Mongolian. “Oh, they speak Mongolian! I speak Mongolian!” said Ellie. “What?” gasped Mum. “Well, you know all the time I spend in my room? Didn’t you ever wonder what I was doing? Maybe I was doing something! Learning Mongolian maybe!” said Ellie sourly. “This is Odval. She says we are in the Gobi desert! And she knows we have come from Beijing.” Ellie translated. The mother stepped forward and greeted Ellie. “Sain baina uu. Hello. My name is Bayarmaa. This is Odval. You can call her sunflower. This is Bataar, my son, and Sikh my husband. We see many travelers like you. I think the mischievous spirits brought you here.” “What?” the Smiths asked. “The spirits of the tombs of course!” answered Bayarmaa. “You must have asked for something when you crossed the gateway.” “I told you I didn’t like tombs,” Ellie mumbled, blushing. “Now that they have brought you here, there is only one way back. You must go to the Crescent Lake Temple of 1,000 Buddhas before sunset tomorrow, or you will be trapped in the Gobi forever! We must leave tonight. Can you ride a horse?” “Yes. No. Yes.” the Smiths said at once. “Well, if you don’t know how to ride a horse, you can ride a camel!” “But” stammered Ellie, as she got to the door. “But what? You can ride.” said Mum. “It’s not that, I think, wait, I know, there is a dust storm outside!” Ellie said dismayed. “We’ll just have to ride through it!” So the Smiths and their new Mongolian friends stepped out of the Yurt and into the mysterious Gobi. The family rode all night and all day. At last, the storm stopped, and the riders saw the most beautiful sight: rolling hills of sand like waves; tiny lizards racing across the ground because of the boiling sun. “What’s that?” asked Jackie, pointing to the sky. “It looks like a Golden Eagle, right?” asked Ellie. “Oh, you do have a clever child,” complimented Bayarmaa. Ellie smiled proudly. “Look,” said Jackie pointing at his dad’s watch, “7:00.” “No, not 7:00, 7:51,” corrected Ellie. “That means the sun will set in 9 minutes. We need to get a move on. Let’s go!” The families rode on but they still could not see the temple. There were questions filling their minds. Questions, but no answers. “STOP!” shouted Bayarmaa. “Why are we stopping?” asked Ellie’s Dad. “Look.” Suddenly, they saw an amazing wave-like cliff of sand, a wondrous lake, a beautiful light brown temple, so pale it looked white! “You must find the first cave ever built at the temple, and we cannot help you,” said Bayarmaa. “How many caves are there?” asked Mum. “1,000! Hurry!” The Smiths ran towards the temple and lake. “Goodbye,” they shouted. “And thank you!” Ellie cried. Arriving at the caves, they started searching. The caves were dark and gloomy, but decorated with detailed paintings of Buddha and his followers. Only minutes left, but so many tunnels! “Wait,” shouted Ellie pointing towards a beam of light, “I think it is this way!” They ran forward together and, “BOOM!” Ellie opened her eyes and saw … her own bedroom. The book about the animals of the Gobi desert she had been reading had fallen on the floor. “Was that a dream?” Ellie yawned. She reached down for the book, and sand trickled out of her sleeve. Alone in the Gobi Desert Harrow International School Hong Kong, Clemmie Trott, Fiction: Group 2

lone in the dangerous dark desert was scary but now inside our trusted yurt I know I am safe but lonely. I know I am very lucky to have all of this but I think I have a pretty unfair life compared to other children in our yurt. My brother Yan and I have an aggressive and bad tempered mother who is sometimes overwhelmed by anger whichA always bursts out just when we add a little frustration to the filling up bottle which could explode any minute. This started when dad didn’t come back when he said he would, we thought it was caused by Ma thinking that it was our fault but now we guess it’s probably mostly sadness and morn for Pa not coming back after about 5 years now. When I come back from feeding our stray hound, the mares and our two sheep, I have to help Ma to prepare mutton for our huge family but we never talk, especially me because I’m afraid of being shouted at. As I’m the oldest child in the family I have to learn how to cook and how to debone sheep and mare along with cleaning and taking the wool off the yack, camel and sheep. I also need to know how run a household. One afternoon after my daily beating, being shrieked at and told off by Ma because of my awesome ideas which always led to trouble, mother came in while I was experimenting on pouring water into the “sacred” fire to see what would happen and it all disappeared! I was in so much trouble, mother screeched “Mu Way, you clumsy, disobedient, conceited child why...why on earth... I don’t know what to say about you, GO STRAIGHT TO BED …NOW.” We had had no warmth or light that night but I didn’t understand what I had done. So I decided to change my unhappy life completely: I would run away!! The wind called and cried that night and kept everyone in the Yunn family awake (as usual). The only one who slept at all was Grandpa Mi Rei. Before my departure I cleverly thought about the previsions I would need, water-veal full to the top, my knife, a pile of mutton, my warmest and some of my coolest clothes. A hug and a (disguised) kiss from all of them but I would tell brother Yan. My 12th birthday bag that was used for wool would do the trick so I packed that night ready to leave the next. The next morning I woke up early full of both excitement and terror. Luckily it was ghastly weather so I would be a lot harder to see and would most likely get away without being seen, heard or sniffed by the guard hound. Brother Yan was dreadfully upset when I told him and he cried and cried and wailed and cried which brought a little curiosity from the family which didn’t help so I had to make him quiet, quickly. That night I managed to escape without anyone or thing seeing me. It was freezing, more than usual and it was quiet and scary as well. As I was strolling along, suddenly out of nowhere, a machine came whizzing past and knocked me off my feet, I don’t know what happened next and when I woke up strange people where staring over me. One was a pale woman and the other a male who was also pale (mother had told me to not talk to people like them but I ignored that when I saw the expressions on their face. They were both wearing kind smiles and I relaxed and looked around. Whatever I was in, it was small but cosy and it was truly warm. I looked back at the smiling people and they took out this square thing and said in my own language, “Hello, we are twins and we are not here to hurt you.” The woman said her name was Sandy and her shy twin was called Mark they were from a far off country called England. They were here taking pictures I soon found out and could try take me back to my Yurt if I wanted, and then I told them I had run away from home. They were soon proudly introducing me to all of their equipment. I was shown the “camera” as they call it and also the “camera stand” I couldn’t believe there was a stand for a camera,(a bit lazy really). In the happy days that followed I became attached to them both and started to love them just like my own family. The equipment in their caravan was fascinating and complicated. As an apology for knocking me over they gave me my own simple digital camera and showed me how to use it while travelling through Mongolia. It was pretty freaky looking at me on a box thing, I have to admit. It was like I had a twin too. We travelled through Mongolia for weeks passing lots of interesting sites and picture shots and I became attached to my camera too. They offered me a home with them as they were going back to England and gladly I took it I don’t know if I’ll go home but there is a world to explore with my new family and I’m going to carry on with them and maybe, just maybe come back home one day… May the Mystery Be Revealed HKCCCU Logos Academy, Jasmine Yu, Fiction Group 2

here was a treasure in a desert, the Gobi desert….” whispers Fanny’s mum. “Oh! How “ lovely is this, David? Our daughter has been asleep for almost ten minutes. She never ever sleeps until I finish the story.” “Yeah, Mandy! What do you think she is thinking?” Fanny’s dad, David says quietly. TFanny is sleeping, quietly and peacefully. Suddenly, Fanny wakes up and looks around, she sees no one, not even a creature. While she is crying, she shouts, “Mum, dad! Where are you?” No one answers. Fanny is really scared, she is in nowhere. But just then, she sees a thing, a cactus-like shape creature. It is coming towards to Mandy. Mandy is very nervous. “Is it a monster, an alien, a zombie, or even a MUMMY?” Fanny thinks. She stands at there, she doesn’t dare to move an inch away from her position. The creature comes by, closer and closer. Fanny stares at it, now she has a clearer look at the creature. She knows what it is. It’s a MOVING CACTUS. This really scares Fanny, she has no idea and no idea why she meets a moving cactus. There is a sound shouting, “Hey! Miss! Who are you? Why are you here? Where do you come from?” Fanny doesn’t answer. She just stands there and starts crying again! “Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to speak like that. I’m just a bit curious about you. You seem to belong to somewhere else. Do you know where you are? Fanny still keeps in silence. She shakes her head. The cactus sighs. Fanny thinks this is not a way for solution. She finally decides to speak to the strange talking and moving cactus. “Hi! Mr Cactus. Sorry for not answering your questions, I’m too scared so I didn’t answer your question. Can you please tell me where I am, please?” says Fanny politely. “I accept your apologies. You are at the large desert region in Asia, the Gobi desert. And by the way, I’m Azazel. It means desert. What’s your name?” Fanny remembers where Gobi desert is, Fanny’s mum read the story just before she woke up. “I’m Fanny. But I don’t know what my name means.” “That’s OK. Do you want to come to my house and rest for a while? But we must hurry, it’s almost six. When it’s six, the soldiers of the Gobi desert will come and catch all the people who still stay in the desert after six. They’re really crazy. And don’t talk too loud or else they will shoot you.” Fanny is very scared and sad after she hears this message from Azazel. She thinks it should be like Hong Kong, a place full of freedom, instead of some countries, where they always have wars.

* * * “Wow! You make delicious tea!” says Mandy cheerfully. “Shh! Be quiet, it’s already six o’clock. The soldiers are coming out!” Fanny looks out of the window of Azazel’s house. She sees a lot of soldiers are marching on the desert. She freezes, stands quietly, biting her nails, hearing the silence in the desert for a time that she doesn’t know. After about half an hour, the soldiers are gone. “The moment is over, we can play now!” Azazel says happily. When Azazel is finding toys to play with Mandy, he finds an old, wrinkly map. He immediately shouts, “Mandy, see what I found! I found a map! I think it is a TREASURE map!” Mandy is surprise and exciting, she always wanted to play treasure hunting. “Let me see, please …” “Fine, but don’t break it!” Mandy looks at the map carefully, trying not to break the rusty paper. She finds something that is very shocking. The X mark on the map is the Gobi desert! She quickly tells Azazel this shocking news. “Come on, Mandy. This treasure belongs to us!” They already follow the map to go, but they can’t see any treasure. Suddenly, a rabbit jumps out of a bush. The rabbit can’t talk, it only can shake it’s head or nod it’s head. The rabbit jumps into a bush, a weird bush. The bush is not an ordinary bush, but a secret door. Mandy and Azazel are very curious of the door and they ask the rabbit a question, “Mr Rabbit, we want to ask you something about the door. Is it the way to find the treasure?” The rabbit nods its head, it continuous to jump near the door. After a while, they see a passage. At the end of it, there is some very bright and sparkly colour. Mandy runs toward to the passage. When she is almost there… Suddenly there is a sound coming around her, shouting “Wake up! Mandy! You’re late for school!” Mandy immediately sits up, thinking why this sound is so familiar. Then she remembers who it is. It’s Mandy mum calling her to wake up! Mandy jumps out of her bed and runs to see where she is. “Oh! Why am I at my house? Aren’t I’m at the Gobi desert? I know why! I’m just having a dream. But after I finish university, I must continue finding the treasure of the Gobi desert. I must!” Mandy really fulfils her dream. After she finishes university, she becomes an explorer. She groups a team of her university classmates. Mandy goes to the Gobi desert to find the lost treasure. Finally, she finds the treasure for an entire ten years! Mandy thinks it is an exciting journey. But what is the treasure? It’s a silver ring! When she finds this ring, a boy of her classmates asks Mandy to marry him. After one year, Mandy becomes his wife! And they begin another journey. The Legend of Gobi Desert Holy Angels Canossian School, Chung Wut Ching, Fiction: Group 2

eep! Beep!’ The travel machine of young scientist David Beckham had broken down ‘ again and again. He had tried to fix it for dozen times but all failed. Until now, he had stayed in Gobi Desert for three months and he was running out of food and water. Meanwhile, he had little money left because he spent a lot to invent the machine before. BDavid was very depressed as the Gobi Desert was a place which was far away from civilization. The days could be brutally hot but when the sun got low on the horizon, the temperature began to drop quickly. David could not tolerant this extreme climate anymore. He screamed to the sky at the top of his voice ‘Anyone here? Who can rescue me?’ However, no one answered but only his echoed voice. Suddenly, David heard the ringing sound from the camel’s bell a long distance away. The sound came closer and closer. He was excited and a hope flashed in his eyes after seeing the merchant ridden on the camel. ‘Please give me a sip of water and a bite of bread. I am really hungry and thirsty,’ he immediately begged the merchant whole-heartedly. In return, the merchant answered coldly, ‘The water is very precious and the bread is priceless in the desert. How can I offer to u free of charge? One hundred pounds for a bag of water and two hundred pounds for a slice of bread. Deal?’ David looked into his pocket and he only had a few coins left so he responded hopelessly, ‘No, thanks!’ He continued to fix the travel machine again although he was extremely tired and thirsty. David had not said a word with any human beings for several months, he felt really bored. In order to forget this unbearable feeling, he decided to wander about the desert. After strolling for a few miles, he arrived at the middle of the desert and found a place full of roses in different colours. It was a very elegant garden indeed. More than fifty species of roses were grown and were in full bloom. Standing in the middle of the garden, David could admire the beautiful roses, smell the fragrant from the roses and hear the sweet voices from the birds. ‘This garden is more beautiful than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life.’ David muttered. Under such a refreshment place, David was deeply inspired and thought to himself, ‘Even roses can grow healthily in such a hostile situation. I must have as much endurance as them.’ Days passed by quickly, David missed his family very much. He missed his lovely twin boys and his beloved wife. At this moment, someone passed by and asked him if he wanted to buy some water. However, David refused again as he did not want to waste any money. He determined to figure out a way to make money in such deserted area. Most importantly, he needed to find a way to return home. Although David was almost dehydrated, he continued exploring around the desert. He felt dizzy and fell on the floor suddenly. Before losing all his consciousness, he saw a clear lake in front of him. He rubbed his eyes to make sure it was not a mirage. To his surprise, it was really a lake! David crawled to the lake with all his strength. He drank the water immediately and gained his consciousness again. While he was enjoying the cool water, an idea popped into his mind. ‘Why can’t I make use of this valuable lake by breeding some fish here?’ David murmured to himself. After he drank as much water as he wanted, he made up a marvelous business plan in his mind. Building a fish lake was not an easy task. Whenever David wanted to give up, the picture of those lively roses appeared in front of him. After overcoming all the obstacles encountered in creating his fish kingdom, David became a rich man in the Gobi Desert. In his fish lake, there were a variety of fish. As the water is especially fresh and clean in the desert, the fish he bred were tastier than any fish bred in other areas. As a result, the selling prices of his fish were 30 percent higher than any other fish. Many merchants bought fish from his lake and sold outside the desert to make profit. David was a billionaire now and his dream of returning home came true. David was a generous man. With such a big wealth, he donated a lot to charity and also gave some fish to his poor neighbors in the Gobi Desert. In fact, he enjoyed his life in the desert very much. Did you wonder why David can become a billionaire so easily? There was a secret behind. When David was drinking water from the lake one day, a charming fairy which was holding a wand appeared in front of him. The fairy said to David friendly, ‘This is the lake of luck. You are the first person who discovers the lake. According to our tradition, we will bless you and make your dream come true.’ David was shocked. Before he could give any response, the fairy left. In a flash, many years had passed. David was already 104 years old. After his 104th birthday, he died in his beloved desert with his family by his side. Before he stopped his breath, he said thank you to those encouraging roses as well as the helpful fairy. According to a rumour, David became the brightest star in the Gobi Desert after he died. He led every person who was lost in the desert to the lake to help them survive. If you go to the Gobi Desert, remember to look at the sky at night. The sky was huge and without the light pollution, you must have the chance to see the sparkling star guiding you to the lake. The Treasure of the Gobi Desert Holy Angels Canossian School, Lau Jean Ming, Fiction: Group 2

and dunes after sand dunes covered the Gobi Desert. A golden eagle flew across the clear blue sky in search of her prey. She looked afar and noticed that the Gobi Desert seemed endless and infinite. She swooped down to catch a desert mouse. The poor mouse did not even see that coming. SJon was a very muscular 17-year-old boy at six feet tall. He had light brown hair and jet black eyes. Jon wanted to be an adventurous explorer and a clever inventor. He was awfully curious and energetic. A few days ago, Jon was in the New York Public Library conducting research on a science project as usual. He had snuck Jonni into the library. Jonni was usually green and was an exceptional marksman at aiming his tongue at a target. You might have guessed, Jonni was actually a chameleon. Jon was checking out old books on one of the shelves. Suddenly, Jonni popped out of Jon’s upper left vest pocket, lashed out his tongue and pulled in a dusty old page. ‘Careful, Jonni! Don’t do that!’ whisper-yelled Jon, who was trying to be as quiet as he could. He picked up the page and examined it. It seemed to be a treasure map of some kind. Jon made out the shape of the land on the map as Mongolia, so the marking of the treasure had to be in the Gobi Desert! Jon was so excited, and he rushed out of the library. When Jon got back home, he quickly arranged ticket for a flight to Hong Kong. Sixteen hours later, he arrived in Hong Kong with Jonni safely tucked in his pocket. From Southern China, they went by train to Beijing, and then took another flight to Ulan Bator in Mongolia. From there they rented a Jeep and drove to the edge of the Gobi Desert. They switched to riding a camel and started their journey into the desert. After two lousy days on the bumpy camel, they still could not locate the treasure. They were looking for a camel-shaped rock formation like the map showed, but they could not find it. Jon was about to give up. He gave a big sigh and took a drink from his water bottle. His jet black eyes gleamed in the sun and his forehead was raining sweat. He flipped his hair away from his face and said to Jonni, ‘Hey, green guy. Want some water?’ Jonni drank furiously and flicked his tongue two times, meaning ‘Delicious!’ Suddenly, a golden eagle soared down to catch Jonni. The eagle made the camel scared, so it dropped Jon and Jonni onto the sand, and ran away. Jonni quickly changed into a sandy colour camouflage once he hit the ground while the eagle flew just one inch away from him. Jon ducked just in time right before the eagle’s wing could slash his arm. The eagle could not see Jonni even with its sharp eyesight. Trying to protect his friend, Jon frantically drove the eagle away, so it flew away in confusion. Jon yelled at the eagle, ‘Big fat chicken!’ Jonni was too scared to change back, so Jon could not find him. Jon could not see Jonni so he started shouting, but too bad Jonni did not understand Jon’s words. Jon searched the area for hours. He felt so sad that he had lost his long-time companion. What was worse was that he had dropped his water bottle while fighting away the eagle. Soon enough, Jon had become dehydrated under the hot sun and felt dizzy. He collapsed in a heap of sickness and blacked out. The poor guy did not even see that coming. The loyal camel went back after the golden eagle was long gone, and found Jonni still at the drop-off site. Although Jonni was quite shaken up, he had finally calmed down enough to change back to his normal green colour. The camel walked a little further, and located Jon. It dragged him to a small hut a mile away. The little shepherd boy who lived in the hut pulled Jon under the shade and fed him some water. The caring boy also put a wet cloth on Jon’s forehead to cool him down. It was almost sunset when Jon finally came around. He saw the little shepherd boy and thanked him for saving his life. He saw the camel and Jonni, and was very happy to see that everybody was safe, treasure or no treasure. The little boy brought Jon some goat milk. It was the sweetest that Jon had ever tasted! Jonni looked longingly at him drinking the milk, so Jon gave him a little drop. Jonni almost fainted from strong taste. Jon looked at his amusing friend, patted it and said, ‘You know, Jonni, it does not matter how harsh and unforgiving the Gobi Desert can be, because there are always love, care and compassion in people’s heart.’ Jon paused and added, ‘Or in a chameleon’s heart.’ FOSSIL FORCE Hong Kong Academy, India McDonald, Fiction: Group 2

rincess Anya, B.O.B., Obama, Cruz Beckham and Katy Roar needed to go for a meeting in Mongolia to help the poor people. They were going from North China to South Mongolia. They set off at half twelve pm in a private jet. At 2.00am they were running out of petrol. When it was 2.17am they ran out and then the plane shot down to the sandy ground. PThey found that they were in the Gobi Desert. They were worried they didn’t have enough water and food. Nobody knew they’d crashed. Also there was no phone signal and the plane radio was broken. It was a desperate situation. They were wandering around, wondering what to do, they were kicking around on the floor thinking if they were going to live or die. They noticed some stone in amongst the sand, they picked one up and just looked at it and they were amazed when they noticed a shape in the stone. It was a fossil! They were everywhere. So they went on picking them up. Cruz Beckham saw shadows on the floor and looked up and shouted, “There’s people!” They turned out to be Fossil Finders. The Fossil Finders said, “If you give us all your fossils we will let you use our plane.” B.O.B. and Obama said, “Could we just keep one each and you can have the rest?” The Fossil Finders said, “Just one each then.” Just when they thought they were OK they realized the pilot had dropped them off at the east of the Gobi Desert and left them. Then a camel train approached led by desert people. They could see the problem and offered to take Katy Roar and her friends to the border of Mongolia. Since the desert people looked so fierce Katy Roar decided not to trust them, and said, “No thanks.” So the camel train trotted away. They were all standing saying to each other, “The meeting is tomorrow, what should we do?” Then Princess Anya said, “I know, I know, I know, we can find fossils and write S.O.S. on the sand with them.” As soon as they finished, a helicopter flew over them. They were jumping, screaming and shouting. They all hugged each other when the helicopter was landing. The helicopter took them to their meeting and they were actually 10 minutes early! THANK YOU, BARBIE! International Christian School, Alicia Chiu, Fiction: Group 2

um, I have to do a project, again. It’s about the Gobi desert!” I moaned in disgust, “ gripping the assignment sheet at arms length. “You’re great at projects; use your new laptop to do the project. It’s over there.” answered mum, eyeing my newest Barbie laptop, a gift from my uncle. The secret Mwas, I despised Barbies. They freaked me out! That’s not the only problem with the Barbie laptop. The laptop also did a lot of weird things. For my last project about the Aboriginals of Australia, I tried my best not to make any spelling errors or grammar errors. But when I printed it…that useless laptop changed the whole thing into rainbow-colored with Barbie cursive and lots of errors! It was unreadable! Grrrrr! At school the following day, I handed in the project on Australian Aboriginals. The teacher scrunched up the whole thing and dumped my project into the disposable bin. NO! I’d spent two whole weeks to complete my project! Now, I wonder should I give this machine another chance? When I switched on the Barbie laptop, the background was meant to have my name on it “Alicia the great.” The laptop, its own personality clearly evident, had changed it to “Alicia drools, Barbie rules!” Groaning, I quickly found a useful website on the Gobi desert. Maybe I could collect some fascinating facts there! This website had not only great information but it also had an unorthodox cartoon image of the Gobi desert with a Barbie doll that looked exactly like me on it! ‘I’ was smiling and waving while riding a Bactrian camel. The Bactrian camel wore a dog-collar with the words “Barbie” intricately engraved into the leather. The image showed my long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, the same as what I normally did at school-with my exact same green scrunchie! My mind was completely mesmerized by this image. I suddenly felt really cold: technically freezing. My chair suddenly began automatically moving, jolting me up and down, and my rear end felt shockingly uncomfortable. I glanced down, and guess what I could see! I was riding a camel! Once the poor thing realized that a random girl from Hong Kong was on its back, it swung its head around and nipped my big toe sticking out of my orange flip flops. If I’m on a camel that may mean that I’m in a desert! I am only ten years old. Am I supposed to ride this lazy camel all the way back to my own room in Hong Kong? Suddenly, the same collar that I saw this camel wear on the website emerged, right on her neck! Her name was Barbie! I felt really thirsty all of a sudden. Maybe I should reconnoiter this place, check it out for signs of water. “Okay Barbie, giddy-up.” No answer. “Go get some water.” No answer. “OR I’LL MAKE YOU!” Finally, Barbie started trotting straight ahead, searching out water for me. This camel actually understood me! Great! *** WATER! WATER! I see water! I leapt off Barbie, desperate for water, landing head first, on the sand. Lucky it was sand, because I did a million somersaults, twisting and tumbling across the sand dunes. I suddenly halted, dead in my tracks. Dizzy, unable to sit up, or even lift my arms. I lay, dazed for a few seconds, then, bolted upright to the feeling of spiky pebbles digging into my back. I drew circles on the sand with my palm, brushing away all the sand that covered the hidden treasures. My heart was beating, fast…faster…like lightning. I peeped through the gap of my hands. Huh? Fossils? Fossils! I pinched myself several times, I’m not dreaming. I must bring them to school for my project, if only I can get back… Anyway, I didn’t want to go back yet. I scanned the fossils closely: bits and pieces of an ostrich-like dinosaur with two, shattered legs that were made for long-distance running. I hurriedly stuffed them into my bag. YES! I’ve got the most amazing props for my project! Real fossil bones from the Gobi desert! Suddenly, a soft padding of feet startled me. I glanced up. Fearsome wild nomads, wearing face and body paint, and a furry yak skin draped over their legs -- were clutching spears and bows in their hands, all of them pointing towards me. “YEEEEE!” the tribe yelled. They swooped in, grasped my backpack and galloped away, like a flock of gazelles. I sprinted after them, ducking behind a tree, as they reached their camp, twenty tents surrounding a huge camp fire. I spied my bag lying on the floor. I stole around the area, hiding behind each tent, each step drawing me closer to my bag. Finally, I broke across the final open stretch of ground, grabbed my bag and bolted. Suddenly, a sound rang in my ears. It was the Barbie laptop giving me a voice message. “It’s bedtime, Alicia!” It was mum. Her voice, trumpeting loud, caused the nomadic people to turn around. As one, they sprang to their feet and bounded after me. My heart was beating like a drum, pounding in my chest. Soon, the tribe only inches away from me, breathing down my neck, I tripped over, crashed onto the ground and tumbling forward. My head bounced against my keyboard; my eyes squeezed shut, I awaited my fate. After a painfully long few seconds, the sandy landscape melted and segued into the blue wallpaper of my bedroom. I jumped up and, whopping for joy, somersaulted around my room. Calming down, relieved to be alive, I took stock. My head – ouch! My bag – yes! The fossil bones were still in my bag! I shook all the sand off my clothes and out of my hair before slipping into my comfy pajamas. I collapsed onto the bed. My eyelids weighed a ton. Before I slept, I whispered: Thank you, Barbie laptop! Desert Wanderer International Christisan School, Salome Eason, Fiction: Group 2

he lone figure silently made his way down to the abandoned shack. His camel moved slowly alongside him, and he pushed the camel away. As a thick coat of dust settled onto his messy hair, he turned to silence his groaning camel. He wearily collapsed when they reached the shack. TThe shack was in bad shape. But the man, a fugitive who wasn’t exactly in perfect shape either, decided it would do. The stolen goods were heavy in his pocket, along with a few matches. His back ached, his throat was dry, and his camel stunk. As the sun went down, he cried, “Why is everything against me?” His camel gently stuck her wet nose under his arm. Her bright, innocent eyes glittered in the dim light. As the cruel night, the weather became unbearably cold. His kind- hearted camel always offered warmth and comfort. But the man had taken enough. His robber’s heart was not affectionate. He knew no love in the world and hated kindness. He despised his camel for this very reason. He shouted at the camel and beat her up when he felt frustrated. He treated her like dirt. After he did that, he stared out at the cruel, swirling sands of the Gobi Desert. “I hate you and all that is in you!” He bellowed. After many weeks with only drops of water and roasted lizards, the camel began to cough up blood and a sickly yellow substance. The man shouted at her again and again for making a mess. After he did so, he always felt proud. But he always after he felt proud, he felt guilty. One dark and frosty night, the camel gave out a long sigh and took a deep breath. Her eyes burned with hatred as she looked at him, unlike the camel that used to offer help. “You don’t care anything about me,” her eyes whispered, “You are a man whose life is worthless.” Then she gave out a hard yowl and took her last breath. At first, the man did not know what to say or do. Then, there on the cold sand, he fell on his knees and wept bitterly. But in his heart, he knew he should change. Delighted, the man cried out in triumph, “There!” as he cut out crude blocks of the camel’s flesh with a rock. He sighed sadly as he looked at the blocks of meat. Ever since the death of his camel, he had changed into a better man. Still a fugitive, still a robber, he wasn’t perfect. But he was better. He roasted the meat on a small fire he managed to make with the matches he had left. When the sun finally poked out, breaking the long, miserable night, he decided to start walking. Because of dehydration, he collapsed many hours later. But, soon he began to hear a noise. Was it honking? No, it couldn’t be. But it was. In the far distance, a city lay before him. As did a new life. The Curious Camel Case International Christian School, Sophie Ho, Fiction: Group 2

s the clouds drifted over the moon, a silent figure crept into the darkness. The camels twitched uncertainly as the black shadow stirred in the night. The individual froze as the sound of villagers traveled closer. The busy townspeople never noticed the mysterious creature sneaking into the dark. AThe next day, as the bright, fiery sun rose, a nervous chatter ripped through the village in the Gobi Desert. The news passed down from mouth to mouth, reaching a young boy. Waving his arms frantically, the young boy interrupted his sister’s vivid imaginations. “Helen, I’ve got news! Big news!” screamed the enthusiastic child. Helen, on the other hand, acted very mature. Believing the news would be useless, Helen barely took a glance at Alan. Ignoring him, she continued to daydream. “You remember the old lady?” “You mean, Mrs. Garner, our neighbor.” “Mrs. Garner told me something, amazing!” Alan cleared his throat. “She said … there was … a robbery!” “What?” Helen blinked her sapphire blue eyes. Was her cheeky, naughty, and noisy brother talking about a serious theft? “Continue.” Helen said. “Mrs. Garner said a robbery happened at the camel-renting station!” Alan finished in one breath. “Any clues, time, witnesses or suspects?” demanded Helen. Her notebook lay in her lap, a pencil grasped in her hand. Alan puffed out his chest. “Ms. Lydia, the assistant at the shop, reported to the police that all the camels disappeared! Best of all, gigantic footprints were found around the stable!” Alan announced excitedly. “Someone needs to discover the thief!” Helen’s eyes opened wide. “Of course it’s us!” Alan answered. “But … why us?” “Because it was our dream, Helen, to be junior detectives!” Her memories started rushing towards her. A memory of her brother and herself pretending to be real detectives came bursting into her mind. “Okay. Let’s do it!” she decided. “Do what?” “We’re going to solve this mystery!” In a blink of an eye, the two children zoomed across the village. The camel-renting station appeared, at the edge of the village. Helen knocked on the door. A young and beautiful woman peered nervously out of a tiny gap and opened the door. “Oh, look who we have here!” “Uh, hi?” Alan waved his hands, flapping them side to side. Helen nudged her brother and introduced themselves. “Good morning, Ms. Lydia. I am Helen Lopez and this is-” “Alan. Alan Lopez.” Alan interrupted, flicking his hair, charmed by this gorgeous woman. Helen rolled her eyes. “We would like to ask for permission to search around the stable for clues,” she explained, glancing at the lady. “Oh! Uh … of course! I’m leaving soon to Hong Kong, like always, to visit my family …But … I’m only the assistant …The boss is... away,” Lydia, the assistant, hesitated, pushing the door even wider. “Anyways, I have a secret. Camels are so fussy, right? They’ll do anything for you, if you got the brand ‘Camelicious’, which is a treat!” She explained, heading to a box and sitting down. Strolling around, Alan and Helen started rummaging the stable. “Hey! Sister, you just come and take a look at this!” Alan hollered. He discovered a camel biscuit packet behind a barrel and thrust it into Helen’s bag. “What’s this doing here?” “Hmm … how interesting. Look, Alan. I snapped a picture of the big footprints outside. My, what huge ones!” Helen whispered. “Let’s go find the suspects!” Alan dashed out, followed by Helen. They started to leave. “Well, what do you think?” Alan asked, pedaling on his bike. “Let’s start with the big-footed guys,” suggested Helen. “Big-footed guys? Perhaps Mr. Sandle, our neighbor? He has enormous feet!” Alan racked his brains, waiting for Helen’s answer. Helen explained her whole suspect list. “We have Mrs. Sandle, our neighbor, Mr. Bokel, our supermarket cashier, and Mr. Cansel, the window cleaner.” After a few hours, the two siblings felt terrible. They had already asked Mr. Sandle and Mr. Bokel where they were the night before and they had alibis. As they ate at home Alan started to feel restless. “Now what?” Alan asked, desperate to finish searching for the suspects. “We haven’t asked Mr. Cansel, the window cleaner yet,” Helen checked her list. Yawning, Alan stood up. “Helen, this is hopeless. We should give up,” Alan sighed with frustration, taking off his shoes and disappearing into the room. Helen also sighed. Her mind got interrupted by sudden laughter. “Hey, Helen! Check this out!” On his feet were a muddy pair of their dad’s shoes, way bigger than Alan’s own feet. “I’m the thief! Catch me!” Making muddy footprints in the house, a big smile showed Alan was happy. Helen stood there, frozen, realizing anyone could have been the thief. “Helen?” “I know it.” Helen pulled the camel biscuit packet closer to her eyes. “It’s from … Hong Kong,” On the other side of the village, Officer Emerson was searching for clues when the two kids arrived. Helen knocked on the door. Out came Lydia, looking nervous. She nodded hello. Helen reached into her backpack. “You mentioned about your treats for the camels, and only you know it,” Helen said. Lydia nodded again, looking wary. “You are the only person who knows the secret, and the brand …” she stared at the packet. “Hong Kong. Your family lived in Hong Kong, so you bought the biscuits there, since you visited them. You’re … the thief.” “It’s not me!” Lydia croaked. “I have small feet, unlike the huge footprints!” “Ah, the footprints. I have an idea. You sat down on … that box when we came in.” Helen walked over to the box and lifted the cap. There were a pair of large shoes. “I had to do it! My family was poor, and I had no choice! The camels … are in my shed,” Lydia cried. Officer Emerson handcuffed Lydia and took her away. Alan and Helen high-fived each other. “Mystery solved!” Gobi Trouble! International Christian School, Karis Hsu, Fiction: Group 2

usty swirls of wind blew into our faces. Sweat poured down our sun scorched skin. Somehow my feet kept moving, although I didn’t understand how. I was part of a documentary crew reporting on the recent discovery of Buddhist relics that belonged to Master Danzan Ravjaa, but had been hidden to preserve them from Ddestruction by the communists in the 1930s. One by one my fellow reporters weakened, but they still trudged on, even to the point where they had nothing in their entire bodies to keep moving except will. Heavy equipment pounded on my shoulders. I could see a car in the distance, but as the team and I ploughed through heat and sweat, the car seemed to run farther and farther away, until it totally disappeared in the vastness of the Gobi. Was it only a dream? Anna seemed to be ghost-like, floating around, careless, and creating mischief. Was it a mirage or was she trying to keep us from meeting Sarah Barkley, a curator for the British Museum? She didn’t want us to know something, something that Anna wanted to hide, deep down inside. I didn’t trust her. I didn’t trust anyone. I was in the middle of nowhere, with no one to rely on. This interview was crucial and my team had been replaced by Oliver, Brandy, and Anna. I knew nothing about them except that Anna had a sly mischievous side. At night I had seen Anna fiddling with the car, making use of a rusty old toolbox’s contents. The very next morning found me walking; the Jeep was gone, broken. All I could do was press on and dream of vehicles. I started thinking about the interview and its purpose. Someone had stolen something precious. Perhaps Anna was trying to stop something from happening. Someone was lying….. The walk lasted four hours until a faint structure of a yurt was visible ahead, even through dust and swirls of wind. A yurt is a Mongolian sheep felt tent that nomads live in as they move around. It seemed to be coming closer, and closer, until the soft fabric rubbed my weary face. Soft, soft comfort. Children played outside with camel dung, a woman was tending to her baby and a man was milking a tiny goat that was covered in pure white fuzz. Nobody set eyes on us until the woman lost a piece of rope that she was tying her baby up with. She looked up, dropping the small baby on the rough Gobi sand. “You foreigners, what are you doing here? Can I get you some fresh goat’s milk?” I couldn’t feel my legs walking toward the tent, but then there I was, sitting in front of a steaming mug of goat’s milk. My taste buds found the nourishing goat’s milk yucky. But I drank it anyways because my slender throat was as bumpy and rough as sand. The nomadic family generously offered to take us to the office of Sarah Barkley since they were moving in the same direction that we had to go. We accepted. Cameras were loaded heavily at the back of the caravan. Our backs were soaked, not from exhaustion, not from labour, but from walking in the heat of the Gobi. Hot sand pierced my eyes. Heat burned my skin, but still I kept marching. Days later we were eating with the family near Sarah Barkley’s office. I gobbled down lunch from an old classic restaurant in about five seconds, not minding my manners. The meal was excellent, everything I could ever dare to dream of. But the time came when it was time to pay respects and go. I owed my life to the nomadic family, everything. The woman was crying and saying over and over again that she would miss us and the children were sobbing because me and Oliver had become their “agaa” and “ajaa”, like an elder sister and brother. The man stood there stiff as iron, not uttering a single word. Then we left. Sarah Barkley’s office was barely twenty meters from the restaurant, not a rigorous stride for me compared to the sojourn in the Gobi. When we arrived, a pretty lady showed us to a room. There sat a small woman with a pointy nose and dark purple glasses. She wore a blouse, coat, and a pair of pants. “You must be Sarah Barkley,” I said shyly. “Indeed. And from what I have heard, you have been delayed in the Gobi. Tell me your names,” she replied, not bothering to force a smile. “Well, I am Hazel Gopher,” I said. “I am Oliver Anders,” Oliver said. “And I am Brandy Solomon-Dashiell,” Brandy said. “Oh and Anna Sanders is in the toilet.” I said. “Anna Sanders, how peculiar. You know someone has stolen a treasure, a statue, from a museum on the Gobi. The have traced a fingerprint left on the inside of the glass casing for the artefact. Apparently the fingerprint was traced back to a person named Anna Sanders.” I couldn’t believe my ears! How could the criminal be one of our own investigative journalists? Where is Home? International Christian School, Hayne Lee, Fiction: Group 2

ere we lost? These three words swirled around my brain, causing tears to fall onto the ground. A few hours ago, we were with the tour guide. My parents, my older brother, and I came to the Gobi desert to learn about the history, but now, the only thing that captured our eyes was sand, sand, and more sand! I rubbed my eyes andW blinked a few times in disbelief as terrible ideas crept up mind. Will we survive, or would we perish in this barren, sandy wasteland? Many perceptions came, one after another, as a black thread of fear swirled around my heart, causing an ache. Another tear tumbled and tricked down to the ground, where it got sucked up by thirsty, dry, earth. We walked for hours and hours, until our legs felt weak and we collapsed. We finally accepted the fact that we were lost. As I peered through the distance, I spotted a few men, coming this way. Thoughts of hope arrived and burst into my mind. Were they going to rescue us? Would we live? When they finally reached us, we praised and glorified the Lord, while the men stared at us, chatting to each other in Chinese. After noticing how hungry and thirsty we were, they provided us fresh water and bread to satisfy our thirst and hunger. I gobbled up 2 pieces of bread, and speedily gulped down 4 cups of water to wash it down. Ahh…. That was much, much, better for sure! Next, they used obvious hand gestures to guide us to their home, a small village. The villagers stared at us like we were aliens. I tried to avoid their gazing, because it made me feel awkward. They started to chat in their language, until their chatting became more like a fighting. They began shouting at each other, as they frowned and shook their heads in disbelief. Suddenly, they shoved each other. I was surely very terrified. Their tough faces scowled at us. As I backed up and trembled for our safety, the argument eventually died down, it seemed that they came to an agreement. A man gestured his hands to follow him, and he showed us our way to a place where we met a tough looking old man, who was the tribe leader. He spoke in his low, deep voice, something, but I surely didn’t understand. The old man’s chanting soon came to a final end. Another man brought us to a house, actually a tent, quite far away, where we rested and slept. The place was quite comfortable, with cushy beds and warm blankets. The next day, the villagers woke us up we were students that day: they taught us how to speak their language. After all that learning, I was sure: it was a tiring day. We all cuddled up and snored away. The day after that day, my dad went with a few men and went hunting and training, while my mom cooked with the women. My brother went to this huge tent with other boys and learned. I was unlucky, I enjoy running and moving around, but I was stuck in a uncomfortable chair and practiced Chinese. Still, I had breaks between my learning. I was really thankful for that. I was still hopeless at their culture and wished to return to Korea. I was glad that the meals were extremely yummy and extra ordinary, just my taste. They made super good potato soup and corn soup. We also had rice, not forgetting the spiced beans, and on special occasions, meat. Delicious, isn’t it?! The bad news is, there are only two meals each day, not enough for a Korean like me, but still really tasty. I’ve been learning for the past few months, and I’ve finally mastered Chinese. I’m used to all the cultures and number of meals we have, my family too. I still miss my colorful and cheerful home, where I belong, but I love this place as much, no we love this place as much. Now this place is our home, I belong here. I hope to never leave this place!! The Adventures of Ezekael International Christian School, Enoch Lim, Fiction: Group 2

, Ezekael the merchant of Nepal, am writing this memoir. In the fine land of Nepal, where I was born, I beheld a sight. A grand sight indeed! I beheld a large crew of fellow Neapolitan merchants. The ships docking in the shipyard suggested that they were on a trip to somewhere, likely to be Egypt; their package hulls seemed sufficient to hold tons of food and Iother supplies. The stevedores hollered at the top of their lungs, “Ahoy! “All men get on decks!” I immediately saw my chance to escape my country! As the flow of sailors, watchmen, and various other crew members lumbered slowly aboard, I rushed up with them, keeping close to the floor. I boarded the ship to somewhere, to my fate. After ten tiresome and lonely months, the ports of Egypt came into view. “Hi ho,” called the watchmen, “Land coming into view!” I gasped then rushed to change into dark clothes. Even though it was still afternoon, I realized that it would take until evening to moor into the dock, as our ship was enormous. I headed down into the hull, where I hid until about dusk. I snuck out of the boat after everyone had departed. Then, I hired a camel carriage to cart me off to the Pyramids of Giza. Just as I leaped off the coach, the driver stopped me and handed me a large knot of rope. What would I use it for? I just thanked him, and ran off. When I got off, I immediately darted off towards the pyramids. As soon as I arrived at the base of them, I noticed that the door was opened! I seized my chance to enter, and I stepped into the cold gloom of the pyramid, and stopping for a moment, I weighed my rope. I hardly felt the hours pass as I, whistling to myself, trotted through the labyrinth of passages. Soon, I found myself entering a chamber with a large case, and piles and piles of jewels. Jewels! And the case. It was very obvious that it was a sarcophagus! I reached out my hand to touch the cover. My hand was a hair’s width away from the coffin, it popped open abruptly. I screamed then raced back the way I came. I turned back to behold large coils twitching above the coffin. I sighed with relief, and returned to the chamber to gaze back down into it. It was empty as a coconut. Only one tiny gem lay on the case’s bottom. I quickly stuffed the gem in, jammed the sarcophagus into a stretchy cloth chucked off to the side. I raced outside, hailed a camel carriage to the harbor, rented a boat, and hastily rowed across the Mediterranean Sea, which cost me about five days of harsh pumping, and depositing my little boat on the sand on the shore opposite, found myself in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabians weren’t too friendly a bunch, and they threw me out in the Gobi Desert. That’s when the bad things began. First, as soon as my journey through the Gobi began, one of the horses which had been given by the few friendly Saudi Arabians died. Then, right when I actually began to make progress, my bread ran out. Fortunately, as you might remember, I still had my gems with me, so I traded several of them with some friendly locals for their exotic food galore, and proceeded on my journey. I even managed to gain a few well-laying chickens! Then, the worst tragedy occurred. All of my chickens died, cutting off my supply of fresh eggs! I decided that there was a curse from the ton of jewels I has stolen. Quickly, I bought a shovel with my one silver coin, buried the sarcophagus and the gems, and made my way to into Northern China. I had learned a very valuable lesson: Never, ever steal! It could come off with very bad consequences! Little Lost Lizard International Christian School, Janelle Lu, Fiction: Group 2

hen the moon was round and bright, a family of lizards prepared to go to bed. In the hole, the lizard’s baby named Lucy started to feel uneasy and had trouble sleeping. She sneaks out of the house and wanders around the Gobi Desert. Soon, she found herself very far away from home. Lucy thought to herself, “What have youW done? Now you are lost and stuck in the middle of nowhere.” She decided to dig a whole and camp overnight in the hole. When dawn came, Lucy’s mother woke up to make breakfast. She rushed into Lucy’s room to make she woke up. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and she stared into the bedroom. She called to her husband, “James, can you come into Lucy’s room please? I need to show you something. ” Her husband quickly scurried over to his wife. “ Look! Lucy’s room is empty!” “How is this possible?” James said. “I … I do not know, “Lucy’s mom stammered. “I guess we need to find help from other animals,” James said. Lucy’s mom sighed, “Our dear poor Lucy. Just think of her all alone in the desert.” “I know Bella, I know. I am worried about our daughter as well,” James said. Meanwhile, Lucy was startled from her dream. “What’s that noise?” Lucy poked her head out of the hole. She looked up and stared at the two men hovering above her. The two men had thick burly beards and weapons tucked in the belts of their clothes. Their clothes were torn and very dirty. To Lucy, these men look very scary to her. But instead of leaving, the two men grabbed a net and covered Lucy with the net. “Ha, ha, ha! We have caught an animal that we can sell back home in Beijing,” said one man. “Right. We just need to find more of these creatures,” said the other. “Smart idea,” Bob replied. Lucy managed to hear this conversation. “I must find a way to escape and to warn my parents and my neighborhood,” Lucy whispered to herself. Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother decided to go on a journey across the Gobi Desert. After two hours of searching, she decided to take a rest after eating a snack. A rattlesnake named Ben came to Lucy’s mother and asked, “What are you doing out here all by yourself?” “My daughter is lost. I am going on a journey to search for her.” “May I come with you?” Ben asked. “Of course. I can always use some help on a mission like this.” They set out on their journey to find Lucy. Far out across the Gobi Desert, Lucy is struggling to free herself from the net but she could not. Suddenly, the men stopped in front of a cave. They went inside, put Lucy inside a cage, and locked her up. What the two men did not know that there were other animals secretly watching them and getting ready to tell Lucy’s mother. Lucy’s mother and Ben noticed a man and decided to follow him and while they were following him, they thought about where Lucy was being kept and if this man is a person who captured Lucy. As they approached the cave, the animal spies told them that Lucy is inside that cave. Lucy’s mother thanked them and told Ben very urgently, “Hurry, let us go inside the cave.” When they entered the cave, they saw Lucy in a cage with the two thieves beside her. Once the thieves saw Lucy’s mother and Ben, they quickly hurried away. Lucy’s mother found the key to the cage and unlocked the cage “Mom!” Lucy exclaimed. “I am so happy!” “Me too,” Bella said. Once Lucy arrived home, her dad jumped with joy. The two thieves were eventually put in jail but Lucy will never forget this experience. She promised her parents she will never wander away again, ever. Left Behind International Christmas School, Vivian Tsang, Fiction: Group 2

s the sun rose, Sarah woke up with a yawn. “Mom,” she called. “Can we go out to play?” Her greenish yellow gecko jumped on her shoulder. “Okay, after you eat breakfast.” “Come on, slimy,” she whispered as the three of them went out. AThey played right outside their house. “Mom, can we play tag?” Sarah asked. “Of course!” said Mom. “Slimy, stay here,” she requested as she put the tiny creature on a nearby bench. Sarah and her mom played tag until they were exhausted. Finally, Mom suggested that they go home. They were so busy that Sarah fell asleep right away. The next day, Sarah called Slimy, but Slimy wasn’t there. That’s when Sarah realized she had left slimy on the bench! As her heart pounded furiously, she glanced at the bench. Sarah gasped. Slimy was gone, completely gone. Gone forever! She stood there for a while starring at the endless sand dunes located in her backyard, part of the Gobi Desert. Sarah saw an amazing site – Slimy’s footprints! She took a quick breath and calmed herself down. She carefully checked his footprints but they stopped suddenly. When Sarah went out again, she had better luck! She found insect skin, Slimy’s favorite food! They led into a deep, deep, hole. Sarah put her thin hand into the hole and grabbed the slimy little creature and pulled it out. She went to bed satisfied. A New Beginning International Christian School, Ashley Woo, Fiction: Group 2

n the far end of swirling sands trudged two small shadows, walking off into the sunset. They stopped beneath a Saxaul tree, and rested there for the night. Sarah’s eyes gradually adjusted to the light as she sat up. She glanced at her younger sister, who was still peacefully dreaming away. She sighed. They had been traveling for Iweeks to get to this point of the desert, where their father would be. She thought about what her mother had told her before she died: “Go find your father. He’s in the Gobi Desert, under the Saxaul tree with the largest branches in the forest near the end of the desert. You’ve visited him once, but you probably don’t remember.” With shaky hands she had handed her a crumpled up map to help her find her way. Again her eyes fell on her sister. “Time to get up, Linda.” Linda was dreaming about meeting her father when something nudged her. “Wake up, sleepyhead,” she heard. Linda tugged on her thin, cotton blanket and rolled away. Again she felt strong arms, this time shaking her. With a final, hard shake, Linda finally opened her eyes, and found herself looking face to face with her sister. She smiled. “It won’t be long now.” A little while later, Sarah and Linda were walking towards the forests, each of them nibbling on a piece of dry bread. “Which way?” Linda asked. She stared up at Sarah with her big brown eyes. Sarah reached for her map, then pointed towards the direction of the forest. “Race you there!” Linda called as she ran. Sarah followed after her into the cluster of trees. She shivered as she entered the forest, and stopped a moment to catch her breath. The weather was cold enough outside, but somehow, the forest was colder. The trees made the place seem darker too, but she could still hear as well, and she did NOT hear any footsteps other than her own. Sarah looked around for Linda, but she was nowhere to be seen. Sarah frantically searched for her sister. “Linda, where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are!” She began to feel fretful. She had searched and searched, but her search was not successful. Linda had disappeared. Sarah began to cry. Where was Linda? How would she find her? What would she do now? Sarah knew she had to journey on. She wiped her away her last tear, and inhaled deeply. She would find her sister, and find her dad. She could do this. She marched on with a brave face, thinking only of her sister and father. “Linda!” Sarah called as she wandered through the forest. She tried to think about where her sister would hide in a forest. Behind a tree? Up in a tree? It was noon when Sarah stumbled across a worn-down house. She went up to the door and knocked. She waited. She knocked again. No answer. She went over to a window and peeked in. It seemed empty. Sarah walked off, disappointed. What did she expect to find? She continued on the path and was lost in thought when she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Ahh!” she screamed. She heard a giggle behind her. Sarah spun around. “Linda!” she exclaimed. “I was worried sick about you! Where were you?” Linda grinned, and pointed to the house Sarah had seen just a moment ago. Usually, Sarah would have scolded Linda, but she was too relieved to be angry. She hugged Linda, and simply told her not to do that ever again. “I promise,” Linda said. She paused. “But it was just a joke. You would have found me sooner or later.” Sarah shook her head and wondered how little sisters never seemed to worry about anything, let alone wonder what could have happened if something had gone wrong. She shook off her thoughts and motioned Linda to join her to the nearest tree. “It’s been a long day. I’m tired, and so are you. Let’s get some sleep.” During the night, though, Sarah didn’t get much sleep. She constantly checked on Linda, just to make sure she was safe. This experience would probably scar her for life, and would remind her how much she cared for Linda. The next day, the two sisters, reunited, woke up extra early for a fresh start. Sarah was rummaging through her bag when she stopped abruptly and whacked her forehead. “What?” Linda questioned. “The map,” groaned Sarah. “I must have dropped it when I was looking for you.” Tears of distress flooded down her cheeks. Linda hated to see her older sister upset. “It’s okay,” she said. “Look! There’s a house there. We can go ask for directions.” She pointed to a house covered by some large trees. Sarah peered at it closely. “I remember now,” Sarah whispered. Linda gave Sarah a bewildered look. “Dad.” Sarah rushed towards the house and knocked on the door. “Who is it?” she heard. “It’s me,” she answered. “Sarah.” “Sarah?” The door opened. Linda saw a tall man with kind eyes like hers.” “Dad?” Linda asked. The man at the door nodded. “It’s me Linda.” “Dad,” Sarah repeated, flooded with tears. The girls rushed to hug their father. Then they hurried inside and started pouring out everything. “What are you doing here?” their Dad asked. At that point the two sisters were silent. Then Sarah said, “Mom’s gone.” “Oh.” Their father was quiet. “You girls okay?” They smiled a half smile. “I guess so. We found you, after all.” Their half smile slowly became a genuine one, and the girls and their father got to know each other. They asked questions and told stories, laughed and cried, until all of them felt like they had lived together for a long time. Starting from this day, Sarah decided, I will have a new life with my new family. GOR Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Kleio Kwok, Fiction: Group 2

HAM! THUD! Then complete silence. Naran, short for Naranbaatar – sun hero in Mongolian, shook his head. He still felt the rocking and the deep drop as they crashed onto the Gobi Desert. The first thing he saw was his little sister Oyun, short for Oyunbileg – gift of wisdom in Mongolian,W lying beside him. Her eyes were closed, her face was pale. She looked dead. His first reaction was to place his fingers under her nose. Her breath tickled his fingers. She was alive! He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he checked on the pilot. He was stone dead. By now, Oyun was already awake. They silently ate some aaruul – Mongolian dried curds. They missed home. The only thing that met their eyes was the vast, brown, shapeless and endless emptiness. Naran sighed: “Why did the plane crash? Will people come to rescue us?” “Are we going for help, or are we going to stay put?” asked Oyun. Naran replied: “Let’s explore. We might find a ger.” They explored until dusk and then quickly sprinted back to the wreckage. At night, the howling of a pack of wolves shook them out of their slumber. They were scared stiff. The children decided to keep guard. The next day, they resolved to leave the wreckage. They packed a pole, a raincoat, some aaruul and all the water they could find. After trekking for miles, they heard a rushing sound from afar. Then they saw a thick blanket of dust rose from the distance towards them. Oyun was frozen. Naran yelled: “Quick! Get in.” He wrapped them in the raincoat from head to toe. The sky became pitch dark. Sand blasted on them like spraying bullets. Oyun held onto her brother tightly. It seemed to be an eternity when the wind finally died down. The sand storm stopped as abruptly as it started. They looked up at the sky. It was clear and bright. More stars filled the sky than they had ever seen before. At night, the wolves returned. They were louder and closer, but this time, they were too tired to care. In the morning, during breakfast, Oyun suddenly put a finger on her lips and pointed to the horizon. Naran followed her finger and spotted a tahki – a Przewalski’s horse, the Mongolian wild horse. It stood with the sun behind it, making it look heavenly. Oyun’s face suddenly dropped. Two empty bottles caught her eyes. She screamed hysterically: “Where has our water gone? I am thirsty! Naran, I want to drink.” In her tears, she felt the takhi was eyeing her. Oyun could read animal’s mind and communicate with them. She pleaded in her heart to the takhi for help. She was sure that they would meet again. She called her “Gor” – hope in Mongolian. Naran set their course southward. As they walked, Oyun thought that something was trailing them, but she thought she was imagining it. At night, they camped at a stony patch, set up the raincoat, ate another chunk of aaruul and fell asleep. At midnight, Oyun felt that they were being watched. “Wake up”, she hissed into Naran’s ear. He peered out. “Oh no,” he muttered. “Wolves...” He grasped the pole and charged out but Oyun boldly stepped in front of him. She made eye-contact with the wolf leader. She commanded: “Eat me, not my brother.” The wolf was baffled. Suddenly, he swivelled his head to another direction. He licked his lips grudgingly, backed off and snarled: “Your guardian angel has come.” He trotted away. The rest of the pack followed him in retreat. When the pack was out of sight, Naran pressed his ear on the ground. “Hooves,” he shouted. Oyun stared at him in surprise. She whispered: “Gor is our guardian angel! She scared away the wolves!” “How can she be our guardian angel?” Naran wondered. “I don’t know,” Oyun replied. “Let’s get some sleep,” she said. “Tomorrow, we might find out more about Gor.” The next day, they sighted herds of gazelles, a few jerboas, some geckos, but not Gor. As they walked on, the boiling heat, increasing dehydration and lack of water became unbearable. On the vast landscape, a shimmer of light caught Oyun’s eyes. “Water! Yay! ” she exclaimed. Naran looked. He smiled and said: “Let’s drink all our water.” After finishing their water, they raced towards the “lake.” Then she gasped. “There’s no water! It is only a mirage. What should we do now?” Naran stared at the empty space in disbelief. “I can’t believe it.” He stuttered. “Let’s walk on, we might find a ger.” She said with feigned cheerfulness. The disappointment, dehydration and boiling heat soon took their toll. They had to take breaks often. They stopped early, unable to go on. They soon drifted into a deep sleep. Morning came, they woke up exhausted. They tried to walk, but after a few steps, lapsed into a semi-coma. Something licked Oyun, a wet, slimy kiss. It was Gor! She came to their rescue! She gently butted Oyun and let her clamber on her back. Gor picked up the water bottles with her mouth and galloped to a clear lake. Oyun’s eyes widened. It was real water! She scooped a few handfuls of water and drank. She quickly filled the bottles to their brim and urged Gor to gallop back. Oyun slapped Naran awake. Seeing the water, he jumped up and drank to his heart. They stroked Gor. Gor sniffed east, as if telling Oyun a ger was not far away in that direction. She then disappeared into thin air. There was no trace of Gor. They already missed her. After offering a silent prayer to Tengger and Gor and promised to present them with a blue khadag at the next ovoo, they picked themselves up and trekked with conviction east as Gor hinted – miles after miles…...

Dear Readers, guess, did they finally reach safety or would they die in the Gobi? A Tale of Zach and Jerboa Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Christopher Wilson Chow, Fiction: Group 2

n age of magnificent flowers and fruitful plants ago, there lived a tribe of friendly Gobi Desert animals. Food was plentiful and was never scarce. They lacked nothing and their lives seemed perfect. Days went by in a blink of an eye. One hot summer day, the animals were playing asA usual in the soft sand. Suddenly, the sky grew darker and darker, and the wind picked up. Almost all the plants soared into the sky; the roots were ripped from the soil and sand flew everywhere and formed a huge tunnel reaching up to the heavens. It was complete chaos. The animals started panicking and huddled together. “Ah! Tornado!” they screamed. The angry tornado destroyed most of their food. It left the animals with no choice but to attack and devour each other in order to survive. Soon, thousands and millions of desert animals were killed. The desert animals were about to become extinct… Life in the Gobi Desert was never the same after the tornado struck. Jack the golden eagle became fierce and started hunting down animals for food. The other animals heard about this, and many of them became bounty hunters. Jack was the most successful amongst the animals and stored up a cave full of food. Slowly, the news of this cave spread in the desert and many animals wanted to hunt him down. One sunny morning, Zach, the Jerboa (a bounty hunter) heard loud chewing noises outside his cave. “It must be Jack!!” he whispered to himself with a grin. So he leapt out of bed and looked through his secret window. Slowly and quietly, he stepped out of his cave. Just before he was about to pounce on Jack, Jack suddenly turned around. When Jack saw Zach, he picked up his food, and in a flash, was gone. Of course, Zach didn’t give up, and he started searching for Jack. Two days later, Zach found the pond where Jack usually took a bath. Zach hid behind a little bush to wait for Jack. Suddenly, Zach heard the sound of splashing water. Tilting his head sideways a little, he saw Jack. Still not showing his entire body, he put on his most engaging smile as he said to himself “I’ve got you this time…” Without thinking, Zach let out a monstrous scream that echoed through the desert as he leapt on Jack. Jack thought it was the end of his life. Miraculously however, when Zach took off, he slipped. Thus, instead of landing on Jack, he landed face-flat on the freezing cold water. The animals in the desert heard the loud scream and rushed over to see what was happening. When they arrived, they joined Zach to chase Jack. Jack saw a big, deep pit in front of him. In desperation, he flapped his powerful wings and disappeared into the blue sky. But Zach was running too fast and lost control. He fell into the deep pit. Luckily, Gazelle, the Gopher snake and Sidney, the Snow leopard held onto his ears. Zach was very heavy and his ears became the rope for a tug-o-war with Gazelle holding onto one ear, and Sidney the other. Finally, Zach lay on the sand and was saved. Nothing was different with Zach from before except one thing-his pair of ears is now as long as a rabbit’s! Even thought Zach’s ears got longer, he actually liked them! They helped him listen for approaching predators much better than before... and also because they were so humongous, Zach’s body heat could now be released from his ears to prevent overheating in the hot desert! I’d like to bring my story to an end by saying…and now I know for sure why jerboas have long ears. Failure in the Desert Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Gabrielle S. Wong, Fiction: Group 2

n announcement booms over the loud speakers. At last, my flight to Beijing is boarding. Today, I start my first expedition since becoming a zoologist. My plan is to travel to Mongolia to find and study wild asses. The Gobi desert has the last known species of wild asses on Earth. They are endangered, which makes my expedition even moreA important. Once I reach Beijing, I will catch another flight to Ulaanbaatar, the key point of entry for international travelers to Mongolia. After 12 hours of travel, I finally land in Mongolia. I will stay overnight in Ulaanbaatar before starting my trek to the Gobi desert. Once I clear immigration, I see a sign waving in the crowd at reception for Miss Gabrielle. It is my guide, a lanky young man with leathery skin and sunken eyes. He is probably in his early twenties but looks much older. He introduces himself formally but tells me to call him Sven, a nickname that some Swedes gave him. Sweden is about the most exotic place Sven could imagine – the land of midnight sun, blond-haired people and an easy life, at least in comparison to Mongolia. Sven tells me that I should get a good night’s sleep as we have a long journey tomorrow starting at sunrise. My accommodations are very basic, but I would have a hard time sleeping even if my hotel was the Ritz Carlton. I simply am too excited about starting my trip. I rise at the crack of dawn, pack my bag, and run down to the lobby to wait for Sven. To my great surprise and delight, Sven doesn’t show up in a Jeep, as I thought he would, but with 2 double-humped camels! As a zoologist, I am so excited to see Bactrian camels in the flesh because they also are endangered. Sven says that there is a road that we could drive to the Gobi, but that we would have to travel pretty far off road in order to find wild asses, which is why he chose to ride camels. This will add a few days to our journey, but certainly make it more memorable. We ride off towards the desert, packed with plenty of provisions. At midday, we stop for lunch and a needed break. Riding a camel is much more comfortable than riding a horse, but nothing like sitting in a car. After lunch, we start packing to hit the trail again. The camels, which had been happy to rest, all of a sudden start making loud snorting noises. Then in the distance, I see it, a scary dark brown cloud that engulfs the horizon. Sven’s expression changes immediately. He shouts that we must hurry to find shelter as a sand storm is approaching. Normally, sand storms occur earlier in the season, but apparently they can happen in June as well! We climb back on the camels and Sven charts a new course. He says that we must make a big detour in order to find shelter. This time the camels are moving at a quick pace without any encouragement, as the sand storm is racing across the desert towards us. After 2 hours of hard riding, we finally reach some caves. Sven quickly scrambles off his camel and looks for the best place to shelter. After ten minutes, he reappears and leads us to an opening that faces away from the approaching sand storm. Within an hour, the sand storm blows over us with howling winds and blinding dust everywhere. Sven doesn’t know how long the storm will last, but warns me that it could take days. This is not good news, but I am relieved to be out of danger. Off in the distance, we hear echoes of noises coming from nearby caves. Sven says that, since we are stuck, we might as well explore the caves and possibly discover some neighbors. He sternly warns me to follow behind him in case we encounter any dangerous animals. He pulls a torch light out of his pack and we set off. The network of caves is bigger than I thought, as we climb up and down a series of caves. Sure enough, Sven’s warning is right as we stumble upon a viper, or a Central Asian Viper to be exact. It is only about two feet long, but very aggressive and filled with deadly venom. Sven manages to scare it off with his torch and it slithers off sideways like a rattlesnake. In spite of the scare, we continue our exploration. After 20 minutes, we reach a much larger set of caves and noises of other animals echoed even louder. It sounds like horses! In addition to wild asses, Mongolia also has the only remaining species of wild horses. Anxiously, I peer into the next cave and, amazed, see a group of wild horses. This species of horse is known as Przewalski’s horses. They are much shorter than normal horses and have chestnut coats and black manes. I sit quietly observing them and their interactions. An hour passes before they move on to another cave. At this point, Sven tells me that we must return to our camp, as it is getting late. As it turns out, Sven’s prediction is correct. The storm lasts over 2 days, which completely disrupts my plans but gives me more time to explore the caves. We decide to turn back to Ulaanbaatar early since we do not have enough time to reach our original destination. I am sad to leave behind Mongolia and the Gobi desert as there was too much to absorb in only five days. In the end, I must declare my expedition a failure since I never found any wild asses, but it was the most successful failure that I could imagine. In place of wild asses, I rode a Bactrian camel and encountered wild horses and a Central Asian Viper! I must return. Treasures in the Gobi Desert Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Michelle Cheuk Yiu Wong, Fiction: Group 2

wild wind came rushing through the Gobi desert ---- the largest desert in Asia and the sand was dancing in the air. A baby golden eagle sore through the sky using his own secret language to call his friend the baby snow leopard to play with him. He knocked on the door, “Hello? Is anybodyA here?” A familiar face looked at him, it was his dad!!! “Dad, why are you here?” His dad answered angrily, “Quiet! The baby is going to wake up because of your voice!” Baby snow leopard woke up and came running out, and the baby golden eagle was jumping up and down. The other eagles shouted, “Jake, why do you need to be so quiet?” In frustration, Jake said, “My baby brother is here!” ”What’s so bad about that?” his dad asked. “You don’t love me! Nobody cares about me now!” Jake cried. Sam told Jake to calm down and shared with him a present. Jake was surprised, “What’s in there?” “Oh! A treasure map!” Jake was extremely excited and planned to go for his treasure hunt. Together with Sam, they set off…… Their parents, who made the map, wished them good luck! Since Jake was older than the baby leopard, Sam by 3 years, Sam was not too heavy to sit on his back and flew. But Sam wanted to make Jake feel free, so he tied a rope to Jake and himself so he led the way. Sam spread out his invisible wings to touch the breeze. Sam thought that it would be very nice if he was a golden eagle. Jake asked Sam, “Are you scared?” Sam answered, “Of course, not! I like adventures!”Jake said, “But there may dangerous beasts out there waiting for us…… “They both knew that anything could be lying in wait and ready to pounce. But it was exciting too. They arrived at the starting zone in the desert. They saw a strong-looking golden eagle waiting for them. The Strong eagle told them, “Guys, you have to find your classmate – Zach, the Gobi bear. Walk northward until you reach the cliff about 300 miles away. Zach will help you out.” After telling them the instructions, he went away. Jake and Sam started their adventure in an exciting mood but after one hour they were really tired. Suddenly a sharp wooden thing dashed at Sam. It almost hurt Sam on his neck. Out of basic instinct, Jake and Sam ran as fast as they could to escape. Trembling with fright, Sam asked, “Who are those strange-looking people chasing after us?”Jake answered, “They must be those legendary Mongolian people which mum told me and they want to hunt for us! Sam, you better jump to my back. Let me protect you.””Hold on tight……”Jake took a deep breath and used all his strength to fly up as fast and as high as he could. When Jake dared to open his eyes, he told Sam, “We are safe now. Luckily they do not chase after us anymore. It was such a narrow escape!” He asked Sam, “Are you okay? Do you want to go back home?” Jake yelled, “No way, we’re on a mission. We have to find the treasure.” After dashing the sky for about one more hour, they reached the cliff that the strong eagle talked about. They were pleased to see the Gobi bear, Zach waiting for them. But it was so hot. Jake and Sam were soaked in sweat. Zach glanced at them and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Zach took the eagle’s wings and played with them. Jake asked innocently, “What should we do next?” Zach answered, “Follow me, we have to go past the cliff!” But Zach was too clumsy to climb. He almost slipped and fell from the cliff. Luckily Jake helped him and let Zach to sit on his back. But Jake was totally exhausted. After resting for a while, he flew back to help Sam to go down the cliff too. But now it was already sunset time. The sun had gone. The temperature was dropping. It was icy cold at the night time in a desert. The kids were all freezing. A sudden wind nearly blew the animals off their paws. It whistled round and round the rock in a rage. Jake looked up and saw the moon slip behind a cloud, and everywhere was dark and gloomy. As they were shivering, they saw a small hut about a mile away. So they all ran towards it. They went inside but nobody was there. It was still very cold. But at least, they got shaded off from the wind. The three of them cuddled together for warmth and survived the cold night. The next morning, the kids set off again and headed for the treasure. But they were tired and all walked in very slow motion. Sam mumbled, “I miss dad and mum. I want to go back home.” Jake said, “Me too. I miss dad very much.” Zach tried to encourage his companions, “Let’s cheer up and run faster. We are getting close to our destination.” They were chatting and running and taking rests. Time flied. It was evening again. They were very scared that they had to face the freezing night again! But luckily, it was over. Not too far away, they saw their parents waiting for them at the door of a house. The kids burst into tears. They had found the real treasure – the parents whom they missed so much and loved so much. They all hugged each other. Animal Odyssey ICHK-Hong Lok Yuen, Keith Cheung, Fiction: Group 2

nce, in the harsh, dry Gobi Desert, a salamander named Cloud lived there. Food was scarce, and water was even rarer. And so, the young Cloud set off on a journey to find water. However, he didn’t know what dangers awaited him. He was crawling along when he heard a yell. “Arghhh! Help me!” a voice yelled, Odesperately. It was a tarantula being chased by a hawk! The hawk was closing in on the poor tarantula. Cloud instinctively jumped aside and as the hawk landed in the sand, Cloud butted the hawk in the head and the hawk flew away hurriedly. “ Are you all right?” Cloud anxiously asked. “Fine now, thank you very much,” the tarantula said. “My name’s Sky, so what’s yours?” “I’m Cloud” Cloud replied. “What are you doing in this place?” Sky asked curiously. “I’m on a journey to find water.” Cloud told him. “Well, let me accompany you,” Sky said. “After all, I’m honor- bound to you for saving my life.” So the two set off. They plodded on for days, which turned into weeks…….but no water was in sight. One dry dusty day, a snake rose up from the ground! It was a cobra, one of the most dangerous snakes on Earth. So Cloud knew to be careful. “Well! If it isn’t two tasty meals! Just at the right time! I was feeling a bit peckish right now!” the cobra gloated. “Leave us alone.” Sky replied. “Well! But I’m so scared!” he taunted and with that he struck! Cloud only had just enough time to dodge- the snake’s fangs passing a hair’s breadth from his face. Sky tried to bite the snake with his own poisonous fangs but the evil snake dodged every time. Finally, he flipped Sky over and Sky landed on his back, helpless. “Now it’s your turn!” he hissed turning around. Cloud could only dodge from the blows desperately. Sky had managed to right himself and stealthily, suddenly he lunged at the cobra and pushed him. The cobra fell into a hidden hole and Sky and Cloud buried him with sand. Tired and relieved, they resumed their journey. “How was there a hole?” asked Cloud. “I secretly dug it while you were busy with the cobra.” Sky answered. It wasn’t long before the next challenge came. The hawk at first, was just a faint outline but once they saw a black line slithering towards them they knew they were in trouble. But unexpectedly, a marbled polecat appeared and jumped on the snake. “You think you want to hurt my friends?” the polecat yelled. ”Well you’re wrong!.” “Get him boys!” the polecat leader commanded. Suddenly, a whole gang of polecats ran over and started biting and scratching the snake. Sky and Cloud realized the snake was the cobra which attacked them! The snake looked at them, eyes full of hatred and vengeance. “I will destroy you in another life!” the snake screamed maniacally. Then he perished. But the hawk still remained. Fortunately, he saw what happened to the cobra and fled. “Hi pal! How’s things going?” the leader polecat said to Sky and Cloud. Then Cloud realized the leader polecat was his friend, Sun! “Hi Sun! We’re on a quest for water!” Cloud said. “Me and my boys could really use a drink.” Sun commented on behalf of all the polecats. So they all started walking. Suddenly, they saw a lake! They all rushed towards the lake and started slurping the water down greedily. “Looks like we found your water!” Sun laughed and they all knew the arduous journey was worth it. Hibaties and the Emperor ICHK-Hong Lok Yuen, Thomas Conning, Fiction: Group 2

eep in China when emperors still existed, Emperor Wang as ruling and commanding over China. One day, the Emperor Wang heard about these magnificent creatures that lived in the Gobi Desert, in the north of China and Southern Mongolia. Emperor Wang was Damazed and said to himself, “I must have one of these wondrous creatures in my kingdom to show my people how powerful I am to be able to capture one!” Not thinking about the dangers that could befall himself and his people, Emperor Wang decided to that he would go after one of these creatures. He headed out with a party of his best men to capture and return proudly with some Habities. When he reached the high ridges of the mountains bordering the great Gobi, he set camp for the night. He was totally unaware that there were Snow Leopards lurking in those parts of the mountains. While all the men were snoring in their sleep, the Snow Leopards lured by the smell of their food, decided to attack the camp. The Emperor was able to escape with some of his men. Sadly, some were savaged and lost. After the attack, the Emperor and his men were too afraid to sleep in the mountains. So, they moved on. After two days and two nights, Emperor Wang and his men found and captured some wild horses on the mountain slopes and used them to travel on from the mountains. When they reached lower ground, the Emperor was able to have some rest. But he was not foolish this time, and just in case, he set a guard to watch over the camp. The guard fell into a doze. This was the chance for desert bears and gray wolves to creep down from the mountains and attack. The unwatchful guard and one other soldier were lost this time. Emperor Wang and a few men survived but were near death. They found some water from a small oasis and some wild plants to survive on for a bit longer. Hopefully, they could last out until the end of their mission. During the night, one of the soldiers who was too afraid to continue, crept away like a coward in the middle of the night, taking all the remaining food with him. The Emperor and the remaining men had no choice but to continue. Finally, their hopes were rewarded. They came to the valley of the Habities. To his delight, Emperor Wang saw that they really did exist. They managed to grab and rope up two Habities and set off for home. During the night, a huge sandstorm whipped up and swept right through their camp. All they could do was wait until it all blew over. Sadly, after the sandstorm had died down, they discovered that a Habitie, too, had died. It appeared that when there is a sandstorm, Habities huddle up together for mutual protection, and one had taken the force of the sand and died. The Emperor was very angry and frustrated because now, he only had one prize specimen left to take home. Once, the Enperor and his men arrived back at the mountains, he and his men were on alert again, afraid of the fierce creatures they had met before. Now, they had the Habitie to keep safe, too. At night time, they did not dare set up camp, but could only keep moving quietly, slowly and alertly so the wild animals would not be alarmed and attack as before. Unluckily, being mostly nocturnal, the wild creatures were out hunting. Suddenly, the Emperor and his men heard a scream in the night. Running to the spot where the scream came from, they found the back-stabbing soldier who had run away. He had been taken by a snow leopard and had just died from the attack. Just at that moment, more snow leopards pounced savagely. The Emperor shouted at his men to grab the Habitie and run up the slopes over the ridge to China. But it was too late! The snow leopards killed them all, the Habitie included. Emperor Wang ran and ran, managing to make it over the ridge back into China. But he had failed his quest. Instead of returning triumphantly with Habities and his army of men, he was all alone abd ragged and bleeding. When he arrived back in the towns, the people mocked and laughed at him because he had failed. Eventually, he was overthrown by a stronger emperor. In the countryside, where nobody knew him, he was able to get a job as a farmer and lived alone in the shadows for the rest of his life, dreaming about the elusive Habitie. The Gobi Rally Kid ICHK-Hong Lok Yuen, Daniel White, Fiction Group 2

n a town so small that only the people who lived there knew that it existed, lived a very brave teenager called Alex Cooper. Alex had short hair like any other teenager, he also had a younger sister called Rebecca along with his Mum and Dad. Alex had a massive dream, he had had this dream since he was 5 years old. His dream was so big, he couldn’t think Iof anything else. His dream was to race across the Gobi Desert in a car rally. It all started when his Dad was watching a rally and that night he saw what he wanted to do more that anything in his life. He saw all these cars zooming across the desert, trying to be first. His family were very supportive, his Dad taught him to drive and passed on everything he knew. Now he is a teenager and can drive, he practised all day and all night non stop. He wanted to win more than anyone else. He was the only one in the town that wanted to do the rally and the whole town wanted him to win. Alex was racing against some of the best rally car racers in the whole world. He had spent a massive amount of time getting his precious car, a Volkswagen Touareg V8, ready for the rally. Alex woke up excitedly - it was the day of the rally. The first ever in the Gobi Desert. Alex waited at the starting line, he heard the sound of all the cars as they revved their engines. The sound was as loud as a jet plane taking off. There were hundreds of people in the crowd who all supported different teams. One very popular team was called The Fox Team, whose driver was the famous Tom Fox. He had an awesome car, the most popular rally car in history - a Bolder Wildcat made by Land Rover. As the cars moved off into the scorching desert, Alex’s heart was beating like a drum because he had no idea what obstacles lay ahead. The temperature was a burning, fiery, 45 degrees Centigrade. The sun was flaming, strong and bright in the clear blue sky. He saw the sand spraying into the air as tyres spun and carved up the dunes. A shimmering mirage of desert bushes appeared in front of Alex. Suddenly, his car tipped forward and dived down a humongous dune! The wheels dug into the golden, dry, parched sand. Alex tried desperately to free his car from the roasting dune. He tried to reverse and rock backwards and forwards, but his car just sank deeper and deeper into the burning valley of sand. He used all of his V8 engine power to try and zoom out of this terrible catastrophe. He tried every single trick that his Dad had ever taught him, but nothing worked. He was stuck and worst of all he was out of the race. Not only had his car crashed, but his childhood dream had crashed with it... he was devastated. Alex’s GPS had stopped working, so he didn’t know which way was home. He got out of his wrecked car and climbed the towering dune to see if he could see anyone that could help. He scanned the horizon in every direction, but there was no one to be seen. Alex was all alone in the hot, sandy desert. He decided to look for some shade, food and water. As the sun set, Alex could go no further. Just as he was about to give up all hope, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. The glint of the setting sun’s reflection on the surface of a watering hole! The water looked so wet and refreshing. It wasn’t a mirage, it was real! Alex used all his energy and ran to the water’s edge. He fell on his knees and greedily gulped down the water. Once he had had a long, delightful drink, his eyes focused on a large, round tent. He edged closer, bit by bit, so softly that you couldn’t hear Alex’s footsteps. He looked inside and to his surprise saw two travellers. “Hello,” whispered Alex The two men looked at him and one said “What are you doing here?” in a manly voice. “I am lost! I was in the Gobi Desert Rally and my car crashed, my GPS stopped working and my phone got smashed” croaked Alex. “I am very hungry, can you give me something to eat?” Alex said hopefully. “We do have some food and you can have some,” said the man, kindly. When Alex does not finish the race, his parents are extremely worried about him. They organized search parties right away. After four desperate days of searching for Alex, one group finally stumbled across him and his new traveller friends. He was immediately taken straight to hospital, where his Mum and Dad waited anxiously. They were so happy to see him, so was his sister Rebecca. Alex got the best treatment because he was involved in a very special rally: the Gobi Desert Rally. There was nothing majorly wrong with Alex, he was just extremely dehydrated and his throat was dry and painful. Alex and his family were very happy he was found, even happier than when you get a new baby. Tons of fans waited outside the hospital to see this great and brave teenager. Loads of people wanted to interview Alex and hear about his survival. He was now the most popular boy in the whole world. He was in all of the newspapers, on the TV and all over the internet. Now everyone knows the name Alex Cooper. Alex started rally car racing again and his team became the most successful and popular team in history. The Flight To Freedom ICHK-Hong Lok Yuen, Vivian Yu, Fiction: Group 2

ai trudged on silently. She and her friend Leo were camels carrying goods for humans. “Walking across the Gobi desert with a super heavy load on our backs....seriously” muttered Kai miserably. “Don’t ask me why, it’s just back and forth, back and forth.” As you can probably guess, they were carrying items for merchants across the huge KGobi Desert. Their parents had done it, and so had their parent’s parents, and their parents before them. But Kai and Leo just wanted to get away from it all. Not that the heat bothered them, it was just that they could never go where they wanted. Leo used to be a free camel until the humans captured him so he knew what true freedom was like. One day, it was just too much. There had just been a sandstorm and the group had just lost much of their cargo. They blamed the camels for that (not that they could understand). Leo stomped angrily. ‘We did our best. Now they yell at us for no reason?!Humans are CRAZY!!!’ Kai didn’t reply. She just stared down. Finally she said, ‘I think...... we should, you know, leave.’ ‘Whaaaa...... What do you mean?’ stuttered Leo. ‘You mean, like, go? Just go? Well, if you mean it, then...... yes.’ They spent one last night in silence. The sounds and sights they had taken for granted before seemed louder, more significant. The whispering wind, the soft grunting of the humans in their sleep,, or the occasional rock studding the smooth cloth of golden-brown sand. Finally, the sun began to peep out from the horizon. Then Kai made the signal to go. ’Run!’ she hissed. They ran and ran as fast as the wind until they could go no more. They collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. ‘Alright. We need to find a place with food, water and shelter.’ said Leo. Kai agreed. So they set off again, roaming for any suitable place to live. At the end of the day they still had’nt found anything. They wearily lay down to sleep. Day by day the time passed by. They were getting more and more tired. Then finally, something exciting happened. Kai yelled excitedly ’I’ve found a cave! With a pool of water!’ They rushed in for a look. ‘Nice’ commented Leo.They lay down gazing around. But suddenly, the peace was shattered by a deafening CREEAAAAK. Rocks were falling down on them, huge ones. There were cracks appearing on the ceiling.....and then those cracks got wider and wider...Kai was frozen on the spot, terrified. Leo yelled at her ‘GET UP!!!!!!!! THE ROOF IS CAVING IN!!!!’ Finally she got up, and both fled the place in terror. They were both badly bruised from the rocks, and tired from running like the wind away from the collapsing cave. For days and days on end they slowly walked side by side. ‘I thought we could have stayed there.’ said Leo quietly. ‘Well...... I guess it was my fault. I led us into the cave. We wouldn’t be tired or bruised if I hadn’t...... ’ Kai trailed off. ‘Don’t say that! You just happened to find that cave, that’s all!’ Kai didn’t reply.They walked on. They slept. They ate and drank when they found food and water. Through the rough stony plains, across the rocky plateaus. At the end of one such day, Leo called his companion over as he had discovered a small oasis to stay for a while. By now they were tired, hungry and thirsty. The camels drank and ate. A few days later the first rain in months came! First it came as a few sprinkles, then it grew to a shower! ‘Wow. Rain!’ gasped Kai. It cooled their hot fur. Several hours later, the rain ceased, but the pool was fuller, the leaves sprinkled with water. The sky seemed to sparkle with even more stars than before.It was an amazing sight. The two camels were speechless. ‘You know what? I think we should stay right here.’ suggested Kai. ‘Yeah, this place is great.’ replied Leo. So this is the story of two camels on their way to freedom. My Virtual Gobi Desert Adventure Kau Yan School, Kwong Ling Chit, Fiction: Group 2

o you believe in monsters?” I asked Ryan, my best friend, when we were chatting and “ sitting side by side on my bed. He was having a sleepover at my home during holiday. “No, I never believe those baby tales.” He replied tiredly. “Why? I am sure after you know what happened to me, you will change your mind!” I told Ryan. DLast summer, my father brought me a computer game about the Gobi Desert. My mission was to find and defeat the final boss – Mongolian Death Worm. The game’s introduction booklet said it is a giant sand worm lived in the southern Gobi Desert. It looked like a salami sausage with a long and huge body. It could be five-foot-long. Its round mouth with many sharp teeth can spit venom and it can emit electricity from its body, too. Such a scary creature! Because it moved under dunes, I have to find the door to its underground kingdom. At last, I got there and I was so excited! Suddenly, there was an earthquake. I felt dizzy and fainted. After a while, when I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the sands – it was a DESERT! The desert was very dry and hot. I was very frightened and frustrated. When I tried to stand up, I felt very heavy, Then I looked at my body. “How come?” I shocked. I was wearing the warrior costume as same as the warriors in the game I played before. I suddenly realized that I must be in the Virtual Gobi Desert Adventure game. I understood that the only way I could go back to the reality was to complete the mission of the game. So, I started to walk to the underground kingdom to look for the Mongolian Death Worm and defeat it! On my way to the underground kingdom, I saw dunes and cactus. Feeling hot, I realized that I was lost! Surprisingly, a camel appeared. It did not speak but its eyes seemed like telling “Follow me.” So, I stepped careful after the camel. five minutes later, the camel stopped in front of a cave. I found and a torch of fire and a sword which was also as same as the one belonged to the warrior in the game. I grabbed the sword and rushed into the cave with the torch of fire. All of a sudden, I remembered that there should be a quicksand near the entrance of the cave, so I walked carefully and jumped over it when I found it. Finally, I reached the room where the Mongolia Death Worm was in. I slam opened the door and I was surprised to see that the worm was playing video game. It is as tall as me! “Who are you? Where do you come from?” This “Salami Sausage” did not have eyes, but it could feel me and asked curiously. “I…I come from Hong Kong.” I stammered and shivered. “What?” Its face was full of questions marks. Suddenly he cried “ Ah, King Kong! “ The booklet said this creature have no ears. They are right! “King Kong is my good friend. Hey, come here and play with me. I am so lonely.” It continued. Then, I entered the room and sat down beside the worm. “Yeah, Let’s start!” the big worm laughed and then pressed the “Start” button on the game control. “Ouch! My head is hurt!” I screamed and the TV screen went dark. At the same time, I felt the earthquake and soon became unconscious. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying on the sofa in front of the TV at my home. “What a relief! It must be a dream.” I comforted myself. When I tried to get up and drink some water, I found myself holding something heavy -- It is a sword! “ I grabbed it in the cave in my dream. Why it goes into my hand?” I puzzled. “Ryan, Ryan.” I grabbed Ryan’s shoulders and shook him. “ Are you listening to my story?” I questioned. “What story? Monsters? I NEVER believe those baby things!” Ryan replied loudly when he had just woke up from this nap. “No!!!” I yelled exhaustedly. Stranded in Gobi Desert Kennedy School, Urvi Bhatwadekar, Fiction: Group 2

i, my name is Evana, I am a journalist, and I love adventures. I am 25 years old. This is a story about how I ended up in Gobi desert and my two days there. It all started on the 22nd of December 2008 when I was choosing my first out of town trip as a journalist. I had so many ideas like Italy, France, London and so on, but I wanted to go Hto a place that while I go there it would also be an adventure. Then an idea hit me…I would go to Ulaan Bator, Mongolia. I found out what transport to use to get there while having an adventure. I would first take a plane from Hong Kong to Beijing and from Beijing I will rent a jeep to go to Ulaan Bator. That way, I will be having an adventure going through the Gobi desert. I quickly booked my tickets and packed my bags because the earliest flight to Beijing was the next day.

23rd December 2008

I reached Beijing. I had already rented the jeep and I was driving towards Mongolia. I was kind of lost in the Gobi desert, but my GPS said to go straight to reach Mongolia. I felt thirsty, so I got my bottle out. I accidently spilled my water onto the GPS and it broke. I continued to drive on the same road in the same direction. After sometime, when I tried to press the accelerator, it had stopped working! Now I was stuck in the Gobi desert. I had plenty of water in the jeep and the covered jeep provided some shelter, but I had no food. There was no mobile signal so I could not call for help. I decided to walk for some distance North to check for villages or a mobile signal. I started walking but thought that I had to get back to my jeep before night. So I started marking the ground on the way to find my way back. I walked for a long time and while I was still searching I saw a Gobi bear. I was kind of scared so I backed away but the bear came closer. I turned and started walking back to my jeep. I realized it was following me. I thought it wanted something from my backpack so I took my bottle of water out of my bag, but it looked like it did not want my bottle. It wanted me, not as a snack but as a friend! I went toward it and petted it. It snuggled my leg. So I decided to take it back to the jeep. It was pretty cold, and I guess the bear was magical because it got some rocks for me. At first, I didn’t know why he gave them to me, then after a while I find out that he gave me the rocks to make a fire. I rubbed the stone to create sparks to light a pile of dried grass that I had collected. I ate whatever food I had left. After some time, we put the fire off and I went back into the jeep to sleep. I had to leave a bit of the window open so I could get some fresh air. I used all clothes and scarves I could find as blanket to protect from cold.

24th December

It was a bright morning. I looked out of the window, the bear was eating its breakfast of some meat that it also gave me. I had no idea what kind of meat it was but I just ate it because I was starving. It tasted and smelt really weird but I forced myself to eat since I needed strength. After breakfast I started walking south from my jeep. I marked the ground so I could find my way back. The bear started following me. The bear and I walked for a long time and found some Saxual trees. Saxual tree is almost leafless and grows between 6 and 12 feet high. I had read that they provide shelter for animals and firewood for people. I decided to cut one tree down to use to make a fire. I did not have anything to cut down the tree so I signaled to the bear to jump on the tree. I signaled to him to repeat this till the tree fell down. It took a long time to get the tree back and it was pretty late in the evening. So I decided that I will just eat the morning meat and sleep.

25th December 2008

I woke up on Christmas Day deciding that I will be happy today whatever happens. I now had some meat left from the previous day but I could not force myself to eat it. I looked around my bag and my jeep and managed to find a bar of Snickers. I was really happy with the small Christmas miracle and I gladly ate part of it but also shared some with the magically helpful bear. I then decided to head West for the day as per my daily routine. I was packing my bag for the day, when I suddenly heard a motor coming towards me from the North. Soon a couple in a car stopped by my jeep and asked me what I was doing in the middle of nowhere. I told them my story and they were really sorry. They had spent a good holiday in Mongolia and were heading back to Beijing. They offered to take me back with them. I was really really thankful to them and happy for this great Christmas miracle. I was a bit sad to leave the bear behind and also that I could not complete my trip to Ulaan Bator but I was rescued and that was the biggest gift for the day. Bao Kennedy School, Yuk Yee Cheng, Fiction: Group 2

ong ago, in the vast sandy dunes of the Gobi Desert, there lived a playful, yet bizarre Gobi bear or Mazaalai called ‘Bao’ for he was one of the last of his kind. His parents named him long before he was born; they were very wise and knew what was happening to their kin. They thought for quite a while but came to the conclusion of L‘Bao’ for it meant Treasure or Jewel. When he was born, fate decided that he should live up to his name…by giving him a sign, a small birthmark shaped like the Chinese word ‘Wang’ on the tip of his ear. By a year old, he was already bigger than the other bears the same age. At the age of 2, he could dig as deep as his older cousins from other areas of the Gobi desert. But he had the biggest weakness of them all, for he loved his family a little too much for their liking. His parents knew his time was coming, that a few years later he would need to embark on his frightening quest, without them, to find peace…but they weren’t that sure if he could handle it. He was, still…only a child. Still a little one, that needed to be cared for…so weak, so feeble… so, so vulnerable. A few months later, his parents went missing, while searching for grubs to eat. Bao was very upset; he vowed to reunite with his parents again. A month later, hunters came and killed several of his relatives, just because they were selecting some wild berries near their house. Bao was angry and started without thinking trekking out of his territory. “This is not fair! Why did this have to happen to me? Why is it me?” he sobbed as he went. “My parents and relatives will all be avenged!” Bao menacingly bellow subsequently. He stopped when he passed a small, flowing stream. He had never noticed that the Gobi Desert was this beautiful! All around him, the desert buzzed, teaming with life. He heard the golden eagles with their ear piercing cries; the camels, treading slowly through the sand; the lizards gently gliding through the sand and the beetles furiously digging away. He saw the wild flowers swaying in the breeze; the over-ripe berries fall down from the top of their bush; the snake slithering through the golden brown sand and the river quietly creeping down the mountain. He smelt the grass freshly pushing up through the ground; the fruit almost ripe enough to eat; the sand whisking off in all directions and the herbs of wonder sprouting in places you would never believe. But he quickly shook the thoughts out of his head and went on his way. A few days later, he found an old cave and decided to go inside and take a nap. After all… an expedition is tiring. When he woke up, he ran out from the cave and slurped water out of nearby oasis and got on his way. He found two crickets in a bush close to the oasis and crunched them up happily. He trotted for a few miles onward and tumbled down a scorching sand dune; falling unconscious! He felt a warm liquid oozing from all over his body; he must have fell on some jagged rocks. He tried to get up but winced in pain. After a few more tries, he felt strangely tired for it was just too much for his wound. Then he fainted! But before he did he stared at the sky and thought of what a life he had lived. When he woke, he found himself lying on a bed woven with herbs, in a cave high across the mountain. Bao felt calm as if the angry fire in his heart had been put out. He was not hungry for revenge anymore, but didn’t want to go back to face his past…so he decided to wander across the Gobi Desert in search of what he called ‘Home’. A few days later, Bao decided to start his voyage. He trekked along the mountain’s edge for a few days, enjoying the icy winds. While going down the mountain, Bao heard a small cry and decided to check it out. It was a baby snow leopard and she had lost her mother. It looked at him curiously and immediately smiled, but Bao knew they were now in grave danger, so he swiftly picked her up in his arms and put his muscles into motion. The baby thought it was a game and squealed in delight. Soon they reached a sandy dune and the baby leaped out of Bao’s arms and started taking a nap. “You are a very unique little creature aren’t you? Your kind is so different but, endangered just like…me?! Oh well.” Bao muttered to himself. Thinking of sleep, he briskly yawned to verify that thought. Day was dawning, Bao woke and found the baby gone…its mother must have come and brought it back home. There were foot-prints to prove it. Not wanting to dawdle, he set off yet again, for paradise. Awhile later, Bao had a new goal; it was to travel round the whole Gobi Desert, literally every nook and cranny. He padded through the mountain terrain, munching on roots of nutritious plantation. He bathed in the pools of the icy oasis water, eating grasshopper rolls. He rabbled through the slopes, up and down, up and down. Sometimes he would sleep in a hole, freshly dug in the earth; occasionally crevices, lined with moss, and bedded with ferns and at times just under the shade of a lofty tree. Even after his death, Bao wandered the Gobi Desert relishing each day as if he was still alive. Just as calm as his parents were when they left. If you ever happen to stroll across the Gobi Desert, keep your eyes peeled to see if you can find Bao. He could be anywhere! Shortlisted

The Tale of the Gobi Desert Kennedy School, Leia Green, 9

Chapter 1

here am I? “Are we there yet,” moaned Jack. “ Can’t you wait a little longer,” replied Katy, “we’ll be at the motel in about an hour”. “But can I just ask you one little question Katy?” pleaded Jack. “Fine, go ahead, what is it?” she said. ”Okay, why is there a huge,W fierce and scary sand storm coming right our way?” Katy and Jack watched the big gush of sand in silence as it started to creep up on them, it came closer and closer and… “Quick Jack! Duck down as low as you can!”. Sand came gushing into the car and the wind was like a tornado and then… “What’s going on,” Jack whispered and tried to stand up. Jack looked up but all he could see was sand and more sand. “ Where am I?” Jack puzzled and then he froze, where was Katy? “Katy!” Jack screamed as loud as he could, but it was useless, he was in the middle of nowhere with no food or water, his only choice was to walk on in the burning heat. As he walked the sun poured on the young boy giving him sunburns all over his body. He was thinking about where Katy was, but his main concern was what would happen to him. He soon realized that the burns from the sun were the most painful things he had ever experienced. I need to protect myself, this is a really dangerous climate. I need shelter. Jack found some dried up twigs on the desert ground, then he found a cactus to lay the sticks on. He laid them down one by one and when he finished he crawled under the shelter. He fell fast asleep and when he woke up, the sun was setting and the moon was rising up from the Twin Mountains. Jack ran outside. The sky had turned a beautiful orange pink and the clouds were the color of wonderful lavender purple but Jack knew he had to get back into his shelter before it became dark. When he was inside his stomach started to grumble, he was starving! He knew he couldn’t hunt for food right now. It was pitch black outside. Jack’s only choice was to sleep. As he snored on the sand, it started to pour down with rain. When he woke up he didn’t feel the scorching sun baking on his face but a nice cool breeze. He crawled out of the shelter and looked up. It was amazing! The orange dawning sun rising from the Twin Mountains was just like sunset! And there were flowers of blue, violet and pink blooming all over the cacti. Jack found another stick and started sharpening it with a rock and when he was done he needed to go and hunt. He had his weapon, he had his bravery, and he was ready. He started walking silently, looking carefully at the sand. Suddenly something moved. Jack gasped, and then he saw that it was a mouse! The white body scurried across the sand frightened as if something was chasing it. Jack tried to spear but missed, he tried again and… BINGO!!! “Mouse soup for dinner tonight!” But there was something that was chasing the mouse, a rattlesnake.

Chapter 2

A camel saves the day! Jack stood there frozen with fear. The rattlesnake slithered nearer and nearer but it stopped inches away from Jack’s right leg. Jack grew more pa le by the second as the rattlesnake rose and started rattling its tail as if it was shaking a maraca. Jack knew what this meant: it was planning to attack. Out of nowhere a camel came galloping up and then started stamping violently on the snake. When its surprising work was done the camel raced off. Jack tried to stop it but it was just too speedy for him. Jack panted loudly as he walked back to his hut.

Chapter 3

Survival Jack gathered the mouse where he had killed it. He got back to his shelter where he gently put it down and ran back outside to try and find some water. He searched every nook and cranny [not that the deserted area had any] but couldn’t find any water, not even a drop, not even after the rain. Jack was so devastated and furious that he stabbed a cactus with his stick and… a gush of water started flooding out. Jack was so relieved. He put his bowl under the cactus and splashed his burnt body with the cool liquid. He filled his bowl to the brim and headed back for his shelter. He would have to do this every day in order to survive.

Chapter 4

Is that you? After his first proper lunch in the desert he was as tired as a sloth. He settled down and in seconds was asleep. He slept and slept until… clack, clack, clack. “What is that irritating noise!” Jack snapped angrily to himself. He stomped outside. Right there was the camel that had saved him from the snake. “I-Is that you?” Jack stammered, almost frightened. The camel trotted quietly towards him and started nuzzling him and licking him all over. “Okay, that’s enough” Jack laughed. “Why not some water?” Jack said gently. When the sun set over the mountains Jack suddenly had an idea, it was risky. He thought that maybe could travel behind the mountain and Katy might be there, there might be a city. “We will leave tomorrow,” Jack exclaimed.

Chapter 5

RUN!!! The next day, Jack had only walked a few miles when something horrible happened! “RUN!!!” Jack screamed. They set off at such a speed as if they were going to die. Jack ran and ran until he had to have a rest. He looked behind him, the sand poured over him... Jack woke up in a hospital bed. He looked around him and lying on bed 99 was a girl with short brown hair and a cut up face… New Tales of the Gobi Desert Kennedy School, Isabella Gross, Fiction: Group 2

t all started on a very hot day in July when Lizzy and her best friend, Jack, were going for a ride in a helicopter, enjoying all the amazing sights over the Gobi Desert, while on holiday in China. All of a sudden the helicopter started to spin out of control. It spun and spun and all they could hear was the chugging of the helicopter “brrrr brr br.” Lizzy and Jack realized by now that Isomething wasn’t right. All of a sudden the driver grabbed his parachute and jumped off the plane. Now Jack and Lizzy were really scared and wondered if they would make it to the ground. “What are we going to do?” Jack shrieked. “Well, we’re going to have to take control!” shouted Lizzy. “What?” Jack answered. “Fly the helicopter! Come on, get over here and help me!” Lizzy exclaimed. Lizzy scanned the switches and buttons. Jack grabbed the wheel. The helicopter started to slow down, and then eventually, after what felt like hours, it touched the ground. “Phew, ” puffed Lizzy, “That was a bumpy ride!” “It sure was!” agreed Jack. It was summer in the Gobi Desert, thankfully, as temperatures could be well below zero during the winter months. Lizzy and Jack looked all around. They could see huge, steep hills of goldish, crimson sand, the sizzling hot sun beaming over the desert, the azure blue sky with fluffy white clouds and some magnificent golden eagles soaring overhead. “We should start walking.” Lizzy said, after taking in her surroundings. So they set off. They had no idea where they were going but they kept walking. Then, suddenly, they saw some strange brown lumps in the distance. They walked a bit closer and soon realised they were camels, so they went up to take a closer look. The lead camel said “Hi!” Lizzy turned to Jack and said, “Was that you?” “No, I thought it was you?” Jack said puzzled. “Actually, it was me, the camel” said the camel. They turned and saw to their astonishment that the camel was speaking. The lead camel was a heavily coated camel with a mane from the chin all the way down his neck. His hair was a dark, crimson-brown and he had very long eyelashes that made it hard to see his eyes. He was the biggest out of all the camels. Lizzy saw some kind of scroll between the camels’ humps but she was so amazed that the camel could speak that she was stunned into silence and so was Jack. The camel then spoke again and said “This map will show you to the unknown treasure of the Gobi Desert.” Lizzy and Jack had no idea what he was talking about, until he gave them the scroll that Lizzy had noticed before. It took a few minutes to take these words in, but eventually Lizzy and Jack decided to unravel the scroll to see where the treasure was hidden. Lizzy and Jack started to read the map. It seemed like the map had been buried for a long time, as it looked very old. Shown on the map was an old fashioned looking compass, great big mountains, animals they had never seen before, such as marbled polecats, black-tailed gazelles and snow leopards, swirling sand storms, and the X that marks the spot. It looked like it would be a long and challenging journey. The leader camel could see how intrigued they were so he said, “So are you going to go and find the treasure?” Lizzy and Jack looked at him in astonishment and then shrugged at each other. “Why not, since we’re stuck here anyway?” pondered Lizzy. So, Lizzy and Jack started to walk off. “You really think you can walk all that way?” interrupted the camel. Lizzy and Jack turned around, “Uhhh...kind of?” Lizzy answered uncertainly. “Well, you will find if you walk for just a few more minutes, you will wish you asked for my help,” protested the lead camel. “Well, um…can you help us?” Jack said embarrassed. “Of course, my group and I would love to help you! ” said the lead camel. Lizzy and Jack hoisted themselves up on to the camel and they all set off. It was a tremendously boiling hot journey, with the sun now high in the sky. The camels plodded slowly on. All of a sudden Jack’s camel tripped over. “What’s the matter?” asked Jack. The camel started to reply, “Oh, nothing really, I just…..” Everyone turned to see some kind of jewellery in the sand. “I’m going to take a closer look!” said Jack as he jumped down from the camel and picked up, what he now realized was a necklace with a huge pendant. He blew the dust off the necklace and read, “Keep on going.” So he got back on the camel and they set off once again. Just when they were getting worried, as they had been travelling for so long, they heard a funny noise and then someone shouted, “Hey guys!” Lizzy turned and before her eyes she saw a wild ass. “Hello there!” he said. “Look! First, a talking camel and now a wild ass, this place really is enchanted!” shouted Lizzy in astonishment. “Oh, Hi Mr. Wild Ass. Can you help us? We’re in need of shelter. We’ve been travelling for quite a while!” said the camel. “SURE! Just keep on walking for not too long now and you will come to a village. You can’t miss it!” the wild ass exclaimed. So they set off again. After a while Lizzy said, “Look! I see a hut. It must be from the village!” Before they could reach the village a sand storm brewed up, pulling them all over the place and making them walk in circles. They had no idea what to do or where they were. When the storm died down, they found themselves in an old, fallen down village. Lizzy read out a sign that said, “BEWARE of the Brown Bears and Wolves!!!” They cautiously started exploring the village anyway. Jack got to a hut which looked very strange, so he called for the others, “Come over here, guys. There’s something glowing in this hut!” They all came running to have a look. They stepped inside one by one. It was an egg cushioned in some hay, but it wasn’t a normal egg, it was a colourful, glowing egg. The camel said, “Oh my goodness, I think this is one of the first dinosaur eggs. This must be the TREASURE!” The egg started to move. It rose up into the air and then it spoke, “You may all have one wish!” Jack and Lizzy made the same wish, to be back home and safe! New Tales Of The Gobi Desert: Evalina’s Journey Kennedy School, Jade Jeffries, Fiction: Group 2

Chapter 1: Evalina Sahara

Evalina Sahara sat on the warm sand, her back against Camela the camel. She was trying to rub the sand off her feet. Never before did she have to stop, but the sand was especially hot today. She held something close to her body while she drank some water. She never knew why she kept a glass vial full of sand close, but she knew it would come in handy. As she had never had a family, she had been traveling all her life, collecting food and water to sell or trade for other goods. She also had to cover up her long brown hair as it was against the law for it to be shown. She had always worn a pile of cloth on her body. “When will my continuous journey end?” Evalina asked Camela. “Why did my family have to desert me at this horrid place? Why did they leave me with you?!” her rage filled her body. Although she had thought that she’d been placed there for the better, it just made her madder. She’d had thought that they’d at least let her have a happy childhood and explain to her everything, but they hadn’t. They just left her there to rot, or at least Evalina thought so. The Gobi Desert was a sandy, dry, place (aren’t all deserts)? With a little supply of water people were barely able to survive and some people were homeless so when sandstorms struck they’d be wiped out with sand stuck in their eyes, causing tragic blindness. Evalina always survived because she had always built a stronghold with her which was made of a giant supply of bottled water that she mixed with sand.

Chapter 2: A Mystery

As Evalina stared at the vial filled with sand she wondered what it would do to her. Lead her to destruction or safety. Evalina knew that she was bursting to open the vial, but she wanted it to be at the right time. As she stopped by a village market she saw a chain. “Excuse me?” she asked, “How much is this chain?” “One gold coin,” the shopkeeper replied. As she gave the shiny gold coin to the shopkeeper, she knew exactly what she was going to do. “Thank you!” she exclaimed and as she skipped around the shop towards the exit, she was so happy. She thought the chain a lot of help. She slipped the chain under the loop in the vial and put it on. She adored it while she rode away on Camela. When she finally arrived her old stronghold, she knew a mystery was upon her. The chain made her feel as if her DIY necklace was a piece of rusty gold. Brooding on this, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 3: The Map

Evalina woke up to a unknown sound-apparently Camela. She got out of the stronghold to find something missing: the necklace. She started searching despairingly all over the place. “No!” she cried as she found the broken vial in the corner of the stronghold. Her tears ran down her face as she looked at the broken glass. Her eyes caught a weird scroll from behind the sand. “What?!” Evalina exclaimed. She picked up the scroll, took of the ribbon and opened the scroll. It read: Come Evalina to the wiserock cave, everything shall be explained. Love Mom and Dad. “Ah...um… do you think this is a…um…a prank, Camela?” she asked, but she knew it wasn’t: It was from Mum and Dad!

Chapter 4: The Journey

“This journey will be long and hard,” Evalina told herself. “But it’s worth it.” As she hopped on Camela she thought, “Would I come back? Would I survive?” Questions filled her head but she tried to push them away. She continued riding Camela towards the sun (direction of the cave). After a while she decided to stop and build a tent out of cloth and sticks. She kept Camela on a string attached to one of the sticks pushed into sand. She would buy food and water at any local village market. She would use her extra blankets as a pillow. She would walk 300 paces a day. It was hard to walk on the hot sand but she had to, constantly sitting down to cool her feet. She hesitated whether to go back or not, since nothing made sense.

Chapter 5: Wise Rock Cave

Evalina had many sleepless nights in the tent and many endless days before finally on the 5th day she shouted, “I SEE THE CAVE!!!” She hopped onto Camela and shouted, “Go faster Camela!” Camela stopped at the front of the cave as Evalina jumped off her. She ran into the cave to see 2 very familiar people. “Wait…WHAT? You’re Queen Dollana and King Donathan!” she screamed. “You went missing in 1998! This is a joke, sorry for disturbing you.” “NO!!! It’s us, Mom and Dad!” She stood there amazed for a second then leaped into their arms. “How? Why? What?!” She spent hours with her parents, them explaining everything, everything that was important. “Now, here I am with Mommy and Daddy.” she thought happily.

Chapter 6: An Explanation

She was gobsmacked when her parents told her what happened. They had hid Evalina since it was forbidden for a queen to have a baby with the king so they had built a stronghold and placed Evalina and the vial (knowing one day she would open it) in it with Camela and wrote her name on her hand. Then they fled at the sound of the Gobi Army coming close.

Chapter 7: Epilogue

So there she was sitting on a wooden stool eating chicken and drinking cactus juice. It was like she never was away. “I’m going to remember this moment forever,” Evalina said. The reunited family lived all their days alive in the cave. Laughter and joy filled the air. They were all happy. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Division 2 Kennedy School, Clovis Mak, Fiction: Group 2

efore Callum set off on his journey, experts told him what to expect in the Gobi Desert… Callum rode on his trusty horse in the Gobi Desert. It was a large desert region located in Asia. The wind blew dust, sand and gravel on his face, but that didn’t matter. He was exploring the non-polar desert when a wild storm blasted him off his horse and on the soft, Bburning sand and as he tried to get back up on the sand, he found a strange map with some words: “To prevent war from spreading, head to the dune with the glowing silver light. Head North.” Callum had thought about it for a while and then he changed his direction and headed north. On his way he was wondering what was happening at that strange dune: Was there a dispute over there? What was the reason that soon there would be war? Or were the words even real? He realized that he would have to keep on going even if the words were fake because that was the only way to go on the map. He caught sight of a small pack of Bactrian camels that were taking a drink from a small waterhole. Suddenly, he caught the glimpse of a glowing silver light in the distance. Was it the strange dune? Callum clicked his heels on his horse’s sides as his horse started to gallop faster. On the way, he saw a scared black-tailed gazelle running away from the 300 metre high dune. Intricate patterns lay on the soft, wispy sand. He finally arrived at the top of the dune. Looking down, he gasped : A large row of fearsome tents had been set down on either side of a long, flowing river, and angry soldiers were pouring out of the tents! Callum left his horse on the dune and scrambled down to where the tents were. He ran over to a man that looked like a leader and asked : “What is happening here?” The leader replied: “There is a long river here, and both of our camps want to have the river included in our territory, and none of us shall retreat.” Callum yelled back: “What! You can’t just because of a river then you go to war! You could try to persuade them to share the river with you! The leader was embarrassed : “I didn’t really think of that, but water is scarce in deserts so that’s why we want it in our territory.” Callum sighed: “Now you know, then go over there to stop the fighting, look, both sides have started fighting already!” The leader called all his armored troops to stop the fighting and to make a strong barrier shield. Negotiations started after a while and soon relaxed soldiers were walking back to their tents. Soon as there was peace near the riverside, Callum kept going forward and smiled to himself. As he continued on his tiring journey, he helped many other people that made large arguments just because of a little thing. Weather wasn’t that welcoming, with very various temperatures that ranged from the afternoon and night. At night, Callum wrapped himself up tightly as the howling wind whooshed by. In the hours of the day, the sun glared down at him with unbelievable heat while travelling. The road was long and he needed suitable resources as winds could be as faster than 120 kph, but the different people that he helped always helped him back, making his journey quite safe indeed. Desertification made the desert expand after periods of time. As the Gobi Desert bordered Mongolia and marts of China, it took quite a long time to travel between two countries. After long days of travelling, he finally reached the other end of the Gobi Desert where he told people about his journey in danger and beauty. It was actually a fine journey with many strange and special animals that lived there and visited. Callum had a nice time there. The Gobi Desert brought difficult obstacles and Callum was lucky that he had taken expert’s advice. The Gobi Desert Kingston International School, Abbie Yiu, Fiction: Group 2

n a big and mysterious desert there lived a snake family, and a scorpion family. They used to be best friends, and they never fought. But one day, both families all wanted to live and “own” the desert, so they set a war. “We will win and we will keep the desert. I will name this desert “The Scorpion Desert” Isaid the king of the scorpion family angrily. “We will win and call it “The Snake Desert” Said the king of the snake family angrily. After that day, it was the war day! The little ones fight with the little ones, the fat ones fight with the fat ones, the thin ones fight with the thin ones, and the large ones fight with the large ones. This was a fair war! It was a very very fair war and it is the fairest war that they have fight for. After a while, most of them get hurt, so they called a police from North Pole. Suddenly a big fluffy leg came said “I’m too hot to be the police here.” It was a polar bear! Later, they called another police, and it was from Africa. Meanwhile an angry face and said “ What’s wrong?” It was a lion; they were so scared and asked him to go back. This time they called a police from another desert. They never see this kind of animal before, so one of them looked in a dictionary and found it was called a “Camel.” They said “Hi, Mr. Camel!” and then told him what happened. The Camel said, “ You shall share this place, and cooperate and make a new community! It will be very fun and happy! Please try!” So the two families listened to Police Camel and decided to make this place a very fun place. There were many fun places that children and teenagers like to go, including: water theme parks and dived into the sea to see the under water world. Some places are even made for goblins to have fun playing with their friends, including: flower gardens, parks, the swimming pool and hotels. Some places are made for goblins to do activities, including: drawing clubs, dancing schools and even diving schools. And some places are for goblins to do exercise! Now, the desert isn’t call “The Snake Desert” or “The Scorpion Desert”, but it is call the … “Rainbow Desert” because the desert is full of fun and SURPRISES! One day, a family of goblins came to visit this desert. They thought it was too fun that they found a home to live in. Now, the rainbow desert has goblins and even thousands of incest in that wonderful place. The goblins cheered: “we love this desert! We love this desert! We love this desert …” One day, the goblins went to their village but they didn’t come back. The scorpions and the snakes were very worried. After two days the goblins came back and even bring more goblins to come. The scorpions and the snakes were super duper happy and they met a lot of new, new friends. Lost in the Gobi Desert Kowloon Junior School, Marissa Chow, Fiction: Group 2

t was a lovely, bright July afternoon. 10-year-old Jack wanted to play with his friend George Petronie. He put a can of tinned food, a book called ‘Desert Regions’, a collapsible tent, his water bottle and some sweets into his bag, went out, and crossed the street. He clambered over George’s fence and landed with a THUD in Mrs. Petronie’s prized rose garden. He Igulped. Mrs. Petronie won’t be happy about this! He was about to go back when a man wearing a green shirt and blue shorts grabbed his collar roughly and said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” He dragged Jack through a tunnel into a cramped room where George was, gagged and strapped firmly to a chair. He widened his eyes in shock when he saw Jack, and mumbled something under the filthy gag. “What have you done?” Jack cried angrily. “Why are you doing this?” The man smirked. “SILENCE!” He thundered. He snatched up Jack’s phone and put it into his pocket. “I’m Nick, by the way. Follow me.” He untied George and led the terrified boys down another tunnel and into a car. He bundled them into the seats and drove off. After 2 hours, Nick ordered them to go out. He gave them a piece of bread each and drove away, sneering. “Where are we?” George asked. “I think we’re in the Gobi or Sahara Desert.” Jack replied glumly. Just then, he remembered his book. He took it out and flipped through the pages. “There it is!” He cried suddenly, pointing to a picture of sandy plains. “We’re in the Gobi Desert!” Jack read out some information from the text. “The Gobi Desert is the largest desert region in Asia. Its sand dunes are covered with snow from time to time.” He glanced at George, who was perched sadly on a rock. “What’s wrong with you?” Jack asked. “How’re we going to get out?” George wailed. Jack sighed and searched in his bag for the sweets. He thrust one to George. “Here, eat this!” George munched happily and thanked Jack. Then, he suggested, “Let’s walk through this desert and see if anyone will rescue us.” Night fell, and the pair hadn’t found anyone at all. They gave up and ate some food from Jack’s bag. Next, they made a bed to sleep in. George, who had experienced making beds before, found a shady spot to sleep in under a tree. Jack climbed the tree and threw some leaves down to George, who spread them out on the sand. Meanwhile, Jack collected more leaves and when George had finished arranging the leaves, let them plummet down as well. Then, George bundled them up into green, ‘leafy’ pillows. After that, Jack threw the last leaves down and George made them into blankets. He then signaled to Jack and Jack clambered down the almost barren tree. Finally, both exhausted children climbed into their bed, which was certainly not first-rate. The next day, Jack was sauntering along with George when he decided to drink some water. As he was opening his bottle, Jack tripped on a stone. Water flew out as Jack lay sprawled on the sand. Tears trickled down his cheek. George was horrified. He made a desperate attempt to catch the remaining drops of water but the last droplets were absorbed by the sand. George ran to help Jack sit up on a nearby boulder. “Are you okay?” He asked. “I guess so…” Jack replied, shifting his position. He picked his water bottle up and they continued to trek through the scorching sand. The pair managed to survive for 3 days. They stored all the fluids they could find in Jack’s water bottle. They set up the collapsible tent and took turns guarding it and hunting for food. George found a spoor spider and Jack killed a scorpion. The children feasted on anything they could find. On their sixth day, the pair were silently roasting a spoor spider in a blazing fire when George spoke. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to get back home?” Jack sighed. “Just keep your hopes high.” He turned back to the fire and devoured a chunk of the spider. George tried to smile, but his best attempt was a watery, half-hearted grin. Then he gobbled down a huge bit of the spoor spider. In their tent, the children chatted about scorpions. George knew a lot about scorpions, and he shared many facts with Jack. Finally, they lay down to sleep. The pair managed to survive in the extreme heat for 2 more days. On their seventh day, Jack was hunting for food when he heard a rumbling noise. He looked up and caught a glimpse of a huge, towering shape above him. “Help!” He ran for his life. As soon as he reached the tent, he bumped into George. “Whoa, calm down!” George said. “What’s the matter?” Jack collapsed onto the floor. “A helicopter!” He stuttered. George perked up. “Where?” “Outside in the plains!” Jack replied, pointing. George ran out, leaving Jack in the tent. He reached the plains and looked around. He noticed a huge helicopter on the sand. The driver climbed out and walked to George. “Hello, George,” He said pleasantly. “Are you having a good time here?” George almost exploded. “A good time?! We’re stuck in the desert!” The man frowned. “What do you mean, we?” “Jack and me.” George told him. The man replied with a question. “Who’s Jack?” George gave a sigh of impatience and led the man to the tent. “That’s Jack.” He answered. “Hello, Jack. Well boys, would you like me to drive you home?” “WHAT???” Jack sat up immediately. The man repeated his words. “YES, PLEASE!” The boys shouted, their words echoing around the tent. “Come on, then.” The man beckoned for the boys to follow him. The boys climbed in the helicopter. Jack chatted with George and his friend all the way home. Tales of the Gobi Desert Kowloon Junior School, Armaan Dayal, Fiction: Group 2

Chapter one: Holidays!

“All right!” said Ananye happily, climbing up on his large, double humped and rather adaptable Bactrian camel. “A week’s holiday! There’s no school and no homework until next Monday, and I’ve got my favourite chocolates at home! Is this for real?” Armaan, who was eighteen and two years older than his brother, brushed the sand off his jacket. “What’s the matter?” asked Ananye. “You seem kinda bummed!” “Naah, jus’ freezin’!” shivered Armaan, staring out into space. The sand groaning under the camel’s hooves, the two brothers got home. The sandstorm relented. After a warm snack of waffles, they switched on the news and listened. “Emerald Limited wants to acquire the land on which the huts are in the Gobi desert for commercial reasons. They have offered a huge price. There have also been blasts on the roads beside the huts. What will happen next? Join us…” Armaan switched off the television and cut out the mundane, monotonous and mechanical voice. “Looks like we could crack the case!” said Armaan. Ananye grinned. “I reckon we go and sleuth around,” said Armaan, excitedly. “It’s a deal!” replied Ananye.

Chapter two: Wrecked!

At the scene, the two started snooping around; Armaan on one side while Ananye just wandered off. “How unfortunate…!” Armaan muttered, ruefully. As he came near the huts, he put cupped hands around his mouth and got ready to shout. “Hellooo, is anybody there?” bellowed Armaan. No one seemed to be there. Just as he was about to leave, a few crows took off, the wind started to howl, a strange eerie feeling set in. An old woman in her hut at the far end marched out looking coldly directly into his eyes. “Err… could you tell me what happened around here?” asked Armaan. “I can,” she said, simply and unhesitatingly. The old woman strode over to him with surprising agility. Armaan noticed she was wearing tattered traditional clothes. “Could you tell…” started off Armaan, but the old woman cut him off and shot him a disgusted look. “Tut, tut. I’ll do the talking.” She had a girlish British accent. She started off like a recorded message. “On the third of November, I was walking to my hut ‘round the corner, there, when I suddenly heard a bang. I scampered towards the noise and reached there just in time to see two tall and thin men run away. That’s all, and now ’tis time for my evening tea, goodbye.” She vanished before Armaan could say another word. Armaan grew suspicious yet walked away. He told Ananye everything about the encounter with the old woman; Ananye burst out laughing, then his expression changed. He was serious. “Something is fishy around here. It’s not an accident.” Armaan concurred. “Also, why did the woman have a British accent?” wondered Ananye out loud. “She should have a Chinese accent! This is Mongolia!”

Chapter 3: Who? What? When?

Back at the site of the blast, at a distance, they could see the same old woman talking on her phone excitedly, looking pretty modern. “She’s weird, that’s what she is,” commented Armaan. “Whenever I see her, I get the creeps.” “Let’s follow her,” urged Ananye. The brothers tailed her to the bus stop. She got into a patched-up bus and sat down on the torn seat. The bus rumbled off.

“Not much we can do now,” Armaan said. “Yup.” “Why don’t we just go home?” “Okay…” The next day, they went back to the site. While waiting for clues and to look inconspicuous, they started a friendly competition. “Biggest sandcastle wins!” challenged Ananye. “You’re on,” retorted Armaan. About ten minutes later, and a few meters apart, the brothers had finished their sandcastles. They were admiring each other’s work when Ananye saw the vaguely familiar old woman digging a hole. Shocked and surprised, he shot off to his brother and rattled out the scene. “Who? What? When?” cried Armaan in disbelief. They inched in towards the woman, crawling on all fours hiding behind the dunes. She had finished digging a hole and was carefully painstakingly burying a red square object.

Chapter 4: A happy ending

“Oh, my God!” Armaan exclaimed. “Is it a bomb?” Ananye whispered, half-terrified and half-excited. Armaan pulled out his phone from his pocket and called the police. The old woman meanwhile did not seem to have noticed anything and was smiling widely, displaying her black teeth, rather satisfied with her work. Within seconds, wailing sirens could be heard, the sound growing steadily louder by the minute. Before long she was surrounded by police officers. With a gun pointed at her, she was asked to put up her hands. “Noooooo! Really, honestly, you’ve got the wrong person!” she shrieked. She broke down and said, “I’ve been cheated – by Emerald Limited!” she sobbed while being led away. The officers of the bomb squad unearthed the bomb, and took it away. The brothers went home pleased and hit the sack! “Aahhh, home, sweet home!” said Ananye. A couple of days went by. Rrrring! The telephone rang. Ananye dashed to get it. “Hello Ananye!” It was Chief Manas’ voice. “I understand you have done some good work again. Please come to the hall in Zone 8 tomorrow at eight am. I have a surprise!” “Sure,” replied Ananye pensively as he put the phone down. The next morning the brothers jumped out of bed (yawn) and rushed down the stairs. After a quick breakfast (chomp chomp), they ran and jumped into the public bus (pant, pant) and got to the police station - Zone 8 - just as chief Manas had asked. They entered the hall at about seven forty-five. (Whoopee!) Chief Manas welcomed them with a warm handshake. For their efforts, they were each awarded a gold medal that shimmered like millions of diamonds. After a few words of thanks, they went back home. “Time for my chocolates!” Ananye declared. Lost in the Desert Kowloon Junior School, Rhea Dsouza, Fiction: Group 2

ang! Bayarmma and Altai slammed their bags closed, they were to go to Mongolia. They were in China now, and they had come to visit relatives. They were going to take a huge helicopter across the Gobi Desert and end up in Mongolia. The helicopter arrived and Bayarmaa and Altai scrambled inside. ”Wow!” thought BBayarmaa. The helicopter was a just like a hotel. It was more than they could imagine. The doors of the enchanting vehicle slammed and started to go. Bayarmaa and Altai waved out to their relatives and hollered at the top of their voices, “Thanks for the helicopter” before their relatives were out of sight. The first half of the helicopter ride was spectacular, but things started to change. The helicopter rattled as Altai and Bayarmaa talked. Brave Altai shouted to the driver,” Hey you! What is happening to the helicopter?” The driver named Daniel Chung replied with an unconfident face. “The engine is BURNING! What should we do” Bayarmaa braver this time said” WHAT SHOULD WE DO…” Before Bayarmaa could finish her sentence, the helicopter landed with a powerful thud to the ground. In the middle of the crash the driver had cut his forehead and was dead. The two survivors were Altai and Bayarmaa. Altai lifted his and his sister’s head. What a surprise they had had! Altai started walking in the direction for Mongolia, Bayarmaa joined him but before they could say “Biscuits with cheese on top” They had met a fierce snowy leopard with black beady eyes that looked straight back at them, he let out a loud growl, before the leopard could pounce Bayarmaa and Altai had run away. “Phew!” said Altai, “that Leopard could have killed us!” Then they walked away in search of Mongolia. Lucky for them, Bayrmaa spotted a travel guide to Mongolia on the ground. She picked it up and in a quiet voice whispered, “Ugh! This has pee on it!” as she stared at the yellow wet stain that she had just touched. Some animal had come and gone to the toilet on the travel guide. Altai looked around in search for an animal and was surprised to see a deer behind him. “This is a black-tailed gazelle,” he told his sister. “It’s a female deer.” Bayarmaa replied, “Is it dangerous?” Altai answered, “No, but if you get bitten it’s itchy.” “Maybe you could pat her and she will let you ride on her to go to Mongolia,” Altai said. Bayarmaa patted her and the gazelle licked her. Bayarmaa sat on her back and patted her once more. Bayarmaa pointed to her brother and the deer licked Altai. Altai climbed on and they started to go. Bayarmaa was very happy but thought her brother and her was too much weight for the female. Suddenly, the deer slowed down. It was just as she had feared. She told Altai to get off and she would follow. When they had got down Bayarmaa said “Thank you” to the deer and they both ran away. They walked for hours until it was midnight. Altai told Bayarmaa, “We will go to sleep here. It seems comfy.” And they went to sleep till early morning. Altai woke up with a furry and bushy tail on his face and found a small animal on his face. “Good I read what animals are here in the Gobi Desert! We met so many. I think this is a marbled polecat.” It was now sniffing Bayarmaa’s face and licking it. Altai smiled because he knew Bayarmaa was very fond of animals especially cats. He thought, “Should I keep it? But then it will be removed from its natural habitat.” He thought, “I don’t think so but I’ll keep it in my hands until Bayarmaa wakes up.” But he didn’t need to because Bayarmaa was lying up and playing with the cat. “Can we keep it?” Bayarmaa asked. Altai replied, “Fine, but only until we reach Mongolia.” Days passed, but there was no sign of any living thing. Finally they met the most common animal of the Gobi Desert, The Bactrian Camel. They didn’t just meet one but a whole herd. Altai hopped on a camel and his sister followed. Then they rode until they met a human. His name was Batzorig and he told them that he would lead them to Mongolia. They followed him and found themselves in Mongolia in no time. But the problem was that they didn’t know how to get home. So Batzorig asked for their address, which was: Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “Oh,” said the man. “This is near Kharkhorin Market Place right?” “Yes,” replied Bayarmaa. The man drove them to that place and right to the front gate. Bayarmaa and Altai’s parents came to the front door to greet them. Bayarmaa and Altai thought they wouldn’t tell them about being lost in the desert, for this would be the biggest secret between them, but it would be very hard to not tell anyone. Dream Desert Kowloon Junior School, Mudita Jain, Fiction: Group 2

here once lived a cowgirl named Jessie. “Yeeha!” said Jessie as she entered the Gobi Desert with her buddy Woody. “What a dry place?” questioned Jessie a few paces later. “Yes,” replied Woody. “Let me tell you the geography of this place because years ago, when I was a kid Grandad told me interesting facts about this place when we explored here!” TGobi Desert is a desert in North China, South Mongolia. It is 3,000 feet above the sea level.” Woody continued, “It is made up of 5 eco-systems.” As they went on, Jessie asked “How big is this place? PUFFFFF!” “This desert covers an area about 1,280,000 squares. It is the largest desert in Asia, but 5th largest in the world.” It was getting dark, so they headed home. The next day, early morning, when they stepped again in the desert Jessie said, “Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It’s cold!” “Yup it sure is,” replied Woody. “Day time is hot! It’s hard for people to find shade. Wind tosses around grains of sand. At night it gets very cool.” Jessie inquired, “Does the desert get cold at night because the sun has gone down?” “That’s just one part of it. The desert gets so cold at night because there are no clouds in the desert sky. Clouds keep warm air to the ground. Without clouds the warm air rises and it gets chilly!” Woody continued. “Does the weather stay same all year round?” asked Jessie. “Not at all. The temperature goes up to 25C in summer and drops down to -30C in winter time. Although, there is not much snow,” exclaimed Woody. The maximum wind speed is 85 miles per hour. Hear this Jessie ………. It has some hills and greyish brownish soil. The Gobi is a good place to farm solar energy,” told Woody. “HMMMMMM. What will we find if we dig for treasure?” wondered Jessie. Woody said joyfully, “Copper and gold!” “Woody, how do plants and animals survive with so scarce water?” gasped Jessie. Cough. “Jessie, you will be amazed to know, even people LIVE here! There are 600 species of plants living here e.g. the cactus. It adapts by stretching its roots to dig for water.” DIMUENDO VOICE “I am so sad there are only 300 2 humped camels left here.” “Don’t you think we should plant more plants?” suggested Woody. “Luckily I have some seeds from gardening!” cheered Jessie. Jessie: LICK AROUND THE LIPS. “I want to eat a dessert!” Woody: “You can’t possibly eat a desert!” Jessie: “I mean the sweet dessert, haha!” Little Dreamer Kowloon Junior School, Eunice Lam, Fiction Group 2

here is nothing wrong with me, I think. It was just that I dreamt day and night and never did what I was supposed to do punctually. Whenever my grandparents saw me they so often they exclaimed: “Little Sarangerel though you are still little in our eyes, you must learn to mature, to become strong and aware of your surroundings, the Gobi Desert, your Thome. Make yourself something we can be proud of.” And on and on they went until mom came to fetch me for help with her milking and farming. That was the life I was destined to live, and this is my story. The wind blew hard as we journeyed through the endless plain of the Gobi desert. Not a single person except me was without a complaint, for I was in the middle of a delightful daydream that no one could interrupt me from, within my own paradise. There is no one that can do that, except my only other sibling, my older brother, and that is what he did. With a jab and kick he woke me, and then he started blabbing on about being a good and responsible Mongolian. My brother’s name is Ganbaatar, which means steel hero; even if it is considered that your name is what you are like… I personally believe he’s not a hero at all. Then everyone in the tribe started scolding me to, it was simply unbearable! At the moment when the blazing fire burning deep within me that couldn’t resist itself was about to explode, a snow leopard strode past us and stood beside me with an angry glare, I shrieked but no one moved. There was an enormous chance that my doom would come, if it had not been for the tribe leader, my grandmother. Who now had a deep scar in her throat. My thoughts of anger turned to sorrow, of how I had brushed my grandma aside whenever I saw her, and only now I finally understood how much she loved me. But now it was too late, she was now gone forever. Ganbaatar started blaming me again. But this time I didn’t mind, my thoughts were only of darkness.

Ten years later...

The incident was now 10 years ago and I Sarangerel am 21. Yesterday I found the remains of the snow leopard that killed my grandma. Deeper inside the carcass of bones and fur was a string, with a note which had written on it: Tell Sarangerel that I love her the most. Give her my bracelet. I cried for joy, she was the one that understood me the most, even though I brushed her aside every time I saw her, she still loved me the most. I found her bracelet and put it on with pride, I felt like the Mongolian my relatives always longed for. The Stolen Fossils Kowloon Junior School, Jasmine Leung, Fiction: Group 2

t started at an ordinary day at Lucy’s house when the sun was just rising and the birds had begun to chirp. Until Lucy the detective received an envelope. Lucy opened the envelope it said:

Dear Lucy, II am the queen of the Gobi Desert. Unfortunately the treasure and fossils my ancestors has hidden in the Maton Cave have been gone. Me and my siblings think some robber stole them. I have heard that you are one of the most popular junior detective in the world. It would be a pleasure to invite you to the Gobi Desert to finish this mystery. I have put five tickets to go to the Gobi Desert in this envelope and 5 maps. One is for you, the other four are for your friends. Hope you have a pleasant journey. From the Queen of the Gobi Dessert

Lucy was really happy and excited, this is gonna be the best mystery ever. I think I’m gonna invite Jasmine, Eunice, Elize and Dink. But when she rang Dink, Dink said he had a soccer tournament. So Lucy invited Josh, Josh was free. She called the twin sisters Eunice and Elize and they were free. Now I just have to call Jasmine, she was free too. They all waited in the airport until the airplane arrived, when they went inside the airplane they realized that they were in first class. The kids were really happy and they ordered a cup of honey water and sweet corn. Ah, this honey water is so refreshing. said Lucy. When they arrived, Lucy used the map that the queen had gave her, and gave the others 1 map each. So first of all, Lucy said let’s head to the Maton Cave. When they were heading there, they heard some loud screeches. What’s that noise, and where is Josh? Said Eunice. I think he might be kidnapped, said Elize. We must head to the place where the loud screech is coming from. So the girls head to the loud screech and it lead them to a really dusty, dark cave. Ahh!, shouted Elize. There’s spiders, and what’s that brown thing there? It looks like some stones. Whispered Eunice. Oh, it might be fossils, said Lucy. How do we know what is it, plus where is Josh, I’m getting freak out. Said Jasmine. Calm down, said Lucy. So now we have to find Josh, or else we can’t finish the mystery. Said Jasmine. Why? said Elize. Duh this is called teamwork! Said Jasmine. Shh, someone might be hearing us said Eunice. Help, help, help! A screech came again. Who could it be, was it Josh or some sort of other person. Let’s go check, said Lucy. When they walked to where the screech was coming from, they saw Josh. Josh what are you doing? Said Jasmine. I was just crouching in this creepy, dark cage, because I was chase by some wild dogs. You scared us. Said Eunice. Sorry,said Josh. After all that conversation, they checked the brown thing. The brown thing were……..Fossils. The junior detectives were so happy. Until……..The voice came, what are you doing there, said a loud angry voice. After a while 4 men came. One had a big face with hairy hair all over his arms and wore glasses, the 2th had big strong muscles, the 3th had one big black mole covered with freckles, the 4th one had a big nose covered with pimples. Want a fight shouted the gang! A fight? said the junior detective. We will start it now, said the gang. Because the junior detectives were so clever and worked really well, they thought of an idea to win the gang. First of all Jasmine took the guy that has glasses his glasses and threw it all the way to a mud dump, then Josh ,Eunice, Elize use their flash light and shone it right into their eyes. The cave was full of noises like I can’t see. While Josh, Eunice, Elize were shining their flash light. Lucy and Jasmine took the fossils and told Josh, Elize,Eunice to leave as soon the gang wasn’t paying attention. Lucy and Jasmine use the map and found their way to the queen’s pyramid. And return the fossils to the queen, the queen knew the fossils was hers because the fossils has the word tasty on it, because the family surname was tasty. After returning the fossils, Josh, Eunice and Elize arrived. The junior detective told the queen what happen, and the queen told the soldiers to capture the thieves. The queen said thanks for competing in this mystery, and you guys are going to be awarded one fossils each. Thanks said the junior detectives. As the junior detectives arrived at Canada, they realized they were getting famous because they were in some magazines and newspaper. Perhaps they will be really popular detectives when they grow up! GR7 TO THE GOBI DESERT Kowloon Junior School, Ivana Wong, Fiction: Group 2

ne spring in Atlanta, U.S.A, there was a spy who had to find out where there was gold in the Gobi Desert. Her name was Clover and she was very clever and thought that nobody could stop her. She loved to go on missions and she could defeat anyone she would wish to. She had never failed in a mission before. But she was scared of wolves and wild cats Oand they live in the Gobi Desert. Limbo was her partner and he helped Clover when she got into trouble. But sometimes he daydreamed, so Clover would get angry. They had a boss. His name was Thabo and he was very strict. He shouted, “I found out that near the GOBI DESERT lives a stranger who can take you to the gold!’’ Clover and Limbo started planning their trip. Clover said, “When we get to Dunhuang, on the edge of the desert, we will meet the stranger, but first we must find out who he is. Then we will see if he has a map.” After that, Limbo Shouted “Stop! Where are we supposed to sleep? You want us to sleep on the ground!” “Of course not Clover replied, “Everything will be taken care of.” When they finished planning they promised Thabo the boss that they were going to get the tickets to go to Mongolia So, they called a taxi and inside it they discovered a TV controller. Clover picked it up and whispered to Limbo, “What is this?” Limbo whispered, “I don’t know!” When the taxi driver heard them he said, “It’s a magic robot called GR7. It is very powerful. Once, when I was little, I picked it up and I said “Chicka Boom Boom’ and it changed into a robot. When it did that I needed to press on the control buttons. Then I said, “I want to go to the America”, and there was a flash of pink smoke and it took me there! It was amazing, but it will BOOM you down to the ground so you don’t need to go on the airplane.” Clover and Limbo said, “Thank you very much!” and when they got to the airport they got out of the taxi. They found a quiet spot in the car park. They held hands and shouted, “Chicka Chicka boom boom! We want to go to Dunhuang.” The ground turned round and round. There was a flash of pink smoke and they disappeared. They landed with a bump on the floor of a beautiful hotel room! They were in Dunhuang! Suddenly a door opened and a stranger walked out of the bathroom. “My name is Ho To Wo,” he said. “I’ve got instructions and supplies for you. You have to follow exactly what I say or you will not find what you are seeking. They listened carefully and arranged to meet him at midnight near the town gate. After a rest they were ready and waiting when Ho To Wo arrived. “We will ride these camels to the Yangguan Pass and into the Yadan National Park. There, close to a particular group of large rock formations, I will show you where to dig for samples,” he told them. They followed him through the darkness for a long, long time and finally came to the strange rocks. “Is this the place?” asked Clover. “Yes. Start digging; you only have until daybreak to work before somebody may come past. I’m going now, but you can come here every night until you get strike the gold. Good luck!” With that, he rode away. They began to carefully dig around the base of the first huge rock. It was hard work and it took a long time on their hands and knees. After several hours without finding anything but sand, Clover’s spade suddenly hit something hard and big. She dug and wiggled it until she could lift it out, and in the moonlight she saw it sparkling! “We’ve got something! Look at this, Limbo, I think we just discovered where the gold can be mined. We’d better take some photographs and then get back and home to the Boss.” She got the camera out of her bag and took plenty of pictures to show exactly where they had found the gold nugget. Then, as they were packing up, they heard a terrifying growl from the bushes behind her. “Freeze!” she whispered. “I think there’s a wildcat near us. Come close to me and I’ll use that robot to get us out of here.” So, holding the rock and all their things, they disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke! Thump! With a flash of light and a big bang they found themselves in the Boss’s office. He was shocked and excited to see them return so soon. “Look what we’ve got,” said Limbo. “It’s what you wanted. We know where to get gold in the Gobi Desert.” Thabo was delighted and rewarded them with a lot of money. A trip to the Gobi Desert Kowloon Rhenish School, Jasmine Wong, Fiction: Group 2

ne day, Jake, Elma and their parents were planning to the Gobi Desert for a visit because Jake thought it will be fun. “Oh, I can’t wait for that journey!” said Elma happily. When they arrived at the airport, Jake shouted to Dad, “This is a special day! When Owe there, we will swim!” “Don’t be silly, there isn’t any water, there are only mirages.” laughed Mom. “There are some oases, but they are hard to find.” said Elma. “Smart girl!” Dad praised Elma. Then off they went. Ten hours later, they arrived. The family had never realized the temperature was so high! “I’m ashamed we chose this for our vacation.” sighed Mom. “It was all your fault, crazy Jake.” She turned to Jake, whom with a silly smile. “Come on.” Said Dad, and they marched on. Suddenly, there was a pool of water in front of them! Jake, Mom and Dad ran for the water. “Don’t go there, it’s a mirage!” Elma shouted. “Bah! Who says that’s a mirage?” Jake said while he was rushing to the water, but it turned out to be a mirage. They fell on the ground, luckily they had a first aid box in Elma’s suitcase. “When are we ending this vacation?” asked Dad. “I don’t know, may be a month, or a year…” Elma cried. I don’t want to die here!” the foolish Jake also cried. “Shut up! Both of you, we WILL continue this vacation, now go!” Mom said. Again, there was a pool of water in front of them. This time, Jake did not go to the pool of water. “I am not foolish!” Jake said, pretending to be smart, but that was real water, an oasis they found! “You can die here, Jake, bye..” Dad joked, “No, no, don’t leave without me!” Jake cried. “Ha ha ha! You fell into this…, we are not leaving without you, come on!” Mom said to Jake. Terrible things happened to them, first, there was a sands storm, it last for twenty minutes; Next, they had ran out of water, then a Deathstalker scorpion, they almost got bitten by it. Then a troop of camels came by, there were some people on them. “Hello! Who are you?” Asked Jake. The man rolled his eyes at Jake. “Silly, they speak of another language” said Elma. “Could you take us to an oasis?” “Of course!” the man said. Mom and Elma jumped on a camel, and so did Jake and Dad, but the camel couldn’t move because Jake was too heavy! But the people didn’t lead them to an oasis. They led them to a mirage again. Suddenly, Elma saw a card. It was written, “Mr. Chan, Gobi Desert tourist guide.” “So it was Mr. Chan!”Dad shouted angrily. Mr. Chan was a cheat who rips off tourists.”But how can he speak another language?”Jake asked. “He learned it ,of course.” Elma said. “Don’t be so angry. Let’s go, maybe we can find an oasis soon.” said Mom. Another troop of camels came by.”We mustn’t be fooled by that rotten Mr. Chan again! I’m exploding!” said Dad. “Wait! Those are real people! They aren’t Mr. Chan’s men.” said Mom calmly. “Are you sure they aren’t Mr. Chan’s men?” Jake asked. “Don’t worry. I’m sure of it.” Mom said confidently. “Excuse me” Elma asked politely, “do you guys know how to get to an oasis?” “Yes! Just follow us.” the man replied. “We mustn’t follow them!” Jake foolishly cried out. “If we follow them, we’ll die for sure!”, but the family ignored him. They just hopped on the camels and went off. Indeed, there was an oasis, just in front of their eyes. Everybody rushed to there for water, but the camels didn’t go. They just sat there and waited. “Come on, camels drink some water! You must be very thirsty after having long walks.”Jake said kindly. “Camels can travel long distance without any water.” Elma said. At this time, Mom checked her watch. “Kids! It’s time to go home!” She shouted. The family waved goodbye to their friends, but walking back to the airport was a hard work. So they called the camels to ride them back. Back in Hong Kong, Elma cried loudly, “Waaah!” I don’t want the trip to end! I want to add this book a few more pages!” Dad said, “Me too, but the author said no.” “Ok, two choices. Go back to the Gobi Desert or stay at home and sleep?”asked Dad. The family thought hard. But the family didn’t choose to stay in the Gobi Desert. “No, we weren’t staying. There is no place like home!”everybody said in the same time. From now on , they had started a happy family. In the Gobi Desert Kowloon Rhenish School, Charlotte Wong, Fiction: Group 2

n the Gobi Desert, three best friends were walking over a hill. “Harry, what were you looking for? Can’t we take a rest?” a boy with red hair asked another boy who wore a pair of glasses. The boy with glasses was the famous Harry Potter. “Quiet, Ron! I’m looking for water!” Harry said. I“Water! Didn’t we bring our water bottles?” Ron Weasley shouted. “Yes, some water bottles without water!” a girl who was walking behind them said. She was Hermione Granger. “We had to get away from this dessert as fast as we can.” “We were going to dead, Harry!” Ron cried with hopeless. “I had an idea!” Harry shouted hopefully and searched his bag. He was looking for his magic wand but he forgot to bring his wand. “Oh, Harry, please let me to have a rest!” Ron said. “No, Ron.” Hermione shouted angrily, “We were in a desert! It’s very dangerous and” … before she started to say something, Ron saw a spider and he screamed loudly, “Spider!” and he accidentally pushed Hermione. He really disliked spiders She fell down and something appeared in her bag. Harry saw it and asked, “Hermione, what’s it?” Hermione it and tried to hide that thing. Then, she said, “Nothing.” Ron was curious and he took it away from Hermione’s hands. Harry found out it was Hermione’s magic wand. “Why didn’t you tell us you bought your wand, Hermione?” Harry asked. Hermione replied at once, “This was because they need to prepare… I mean Your family, Ron. Don’t you remember? Tomorrow will be your birthday! Your father decided to hold a party in this desert and he told me to bring you here.” “Well, who would like a party in a desert?” Ron said angrily. “Come on, Ron.” Harry pulled Ron tightly and said, “A birthday party was waiting for you!” These best friends walked away happily, chatting with each another. They seemed not notice that a lot of excited adventures were waiting for them. A Tale of the Wind Lingnan University Alumni Association (H.K.) Primary School, Isabel Mueller, Fiction: Group 2

ong ago, there were two windstorms; one was big and strong, one was small and weak. They lived in the harsh terrain of the Gobi Desert. The small one was helpful and kind, but the strong one loved to make trouble. One day, a young man called Tom had to travel through the Gobi Desert to find his Lfather because his mother had just died. It was a long, hard journey through the desert. It was so dry and hot that Tom had drunk all of his water and had nothing to drink. Tom had walked for so long that he was very tired. He had lost his compass on his journey through the orange sands. Then Tom thought, “Should I go back home and bring more water and a new compass?” When he turned back he saw only sand that stretched on for miles and miles. He decided to continue on. The young man walked for days without finding or drinking any water. At one point he thought he saw a cactus but as he got closer he realised it was just a shrivelled plant. Many hours later, he saw an oasis. He ran to it as fast as he could but there was no water in it, not a single drop. Tom felt miserable, tired and thirsty, he passed out. Suddenly, a windstorm crept over the desert. Tom woke up and crawled across the sand, as he had slept a snake had slithered next to him. He gasped with fear; he had no energy to escape from the snake. Once again the wind blew, and swept Tom up into the air, it carried him to a safe place; a cave amongst the dunes. Tom was so shocked, tired and thirsty that he passed out once again. The windstorm was the kindly small windstorm, it blew some rainwater towards Tom.When Tom woke up he drank the water thirstily and put some in his empty bottle. He heard a voice echo in the wind, “Are you OK? I am the small wind storm.” Tom gasped, “You saved me? Thank you!” The small windstorm replied, “Yes, I saved you. You are welcome. I know where you want to go. I’ll blow you there through the giant desert but it will take a while because I’m only small.” Tom answered happily, “Thank you!” The big windstorm knew what the small windstorm had done. He was very angry, he wanted no one to escape the Gobi desert and he wanted Tom to die there. So he gathered his strength and caused the desert to become very hot in the day and very cold during the night time. It was near noon as the small wind storm blew Tom towards the end of the Gobi Desert. Suddenly it became blisteringly hot, Tom was sure that he had never felt so hot before. The small windstorm looked around the desert for some rain or water, but the heat had caused it to evaporate. The small windstorm knew what had happened, it was the big windstorm! The small windstorm was furious. “Let us find shelter from this heat and wait for night fall” suggested Tom. The small windstorm agreed and they quickly found shelter from the harsh sun. In the middle of the night, they awoke, it was freezing cold! “We must leave the desert now! You will not survive if we don’t act quickly” cried the small windstorm. So with all his might the small windstorm blew Tom up in the air and headed towards the edge of the desert. As the windstorm blew, Tom noticed something. The small windstorm was getting bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger! The small windstorm became more and more powerful and the big windstorm who watched from a distance found that he was becoming weaker. The big windstorm screamed with rage, he had now become a small windstorm. Finally the small windstorm had brought Tom out of the desert. Tom thanked the windstorm from the bottom of his heart and marched on towards his father, he would not have survived without the small windstorm’s help. The small windstorm still roams the Gobi desert today, helping strangers who have become helplessly lost, though he is no longer small, due to the kindness of his heart. Lost Pages from the Gobi Desert Journals Macau Anglican College, Felicia Chan, Fiction: Group 2

A few lost pages of the journals written in the Gobi desert in the 2700s were found.

December 34, 2705, Wednesday, Sunny

Today, Mageia and I travelled to the Altai mountains, a mountain range in East-, where Russia, China, Mongolia and come together, and where the headwaters of the rivers Irtysh and Ob are. We came by a Konmi, a kind of transportation that is a cross between a car and a plane invented in 2368. The view was breathtaking and beautiful. In Turkic and Mongolic languages; the name Altai means the “Golden Mountain.” The sunshine made the snow glint, like silver, and little green shoots of grass have started to push up from the earth, making the mountain green and white. The smells of the earth was strong. I have never seen or heard anything so natural before. The cities are too polluted and wars have started. Mammy said that one day the world would soon fight itself to the end. Meanwhile my friend Mageia is sprouting facts of the Altai mountains, “You know what? I am so excited! It has been my greatest dream to see the Altai Mountains and travel far and wide! It is home to a diverse fauna, because of its different habitats, like steppes, northern taigas and alpine vegetation. Steep slopes are home to the Siberian ibex, and their horns are all curvy like this!” She made a gesture of their horns and continued, “They have also been known to seek out tree lines on hot days, but they don’t enter the forested areas because they prefer to return to their homes when the weather is cool. When snow is heavy, they have to paw away snow to reach the vegetation below. And the rare argali is found on more gentle slopes. Deer are represented by five species…” her voices died away as I am thinking now of the best way to continue the next leg of our journey.

Dear diary, I am now sitting on the sand around a campfire writing to you, just to tell you, nothing else happened except for that boring lecture delivered by the “boring professor”, Dr. Mageia. And my dear diary, next we are going to find the village of Xang Nag, the group of people who settled in the desert a century ago.

Fia Everdeen

May 30, 2734, Sunday, Cloudy

Great news! Today in the North China Plain, we found a Monabotoraus’s fossil. The Monabotoraus was a dinosaur species first discovered in the 2600s by Professor Chase. They are small reptilian dinosaurs with long legs and short hands; they have four thumbs and one finger. They are also rare and best known for their good skills in camouflaging and hiding. You can walk right pass them and don’t even notice! Anyway, we were drinking chocolate and honey when we heard a worker yell and scream. Thinking of the worst, we rushed to the digging sites, the worker, Percy, had tripped and fallen into one of the many holes all around the sites. He had a badly twisted ankle and a big cut in the head. Blood was everywhere when we lowered ourselves into the hole. We carefully lifted him out of the hole and rushed him to the hospital. I really hope he would recover soon. Well, during the fall, Percy has dislodged a great deal of stones, and when we were down there, we saw something white buried in the mound of stones. Out of curiosity, our workers bent down to examine the stones. One of them called me over and we found out that they were actually fossils! We worked quickly to clean and process the fossils and found out that it was a Monabotoraus’s bone! We were so excited and happy that we called all the workers to have the afternoon off. I know because of the excitement, I can never finish this entry. My colleagues are calling for me now and actually I am getting sleepy. Let’s all hope that Percy can recover and luck be with us always.

Jason Grace

July 43, 2787, (unknown), rainy

Today is tha’ third week we have seen tha’ weak mundane workin’ in tha’ dirty laborin’ camp, and tha’ wind is still wutherin’ away. I have nowt things to tell you, but I decided to write to pass tha’ time. Let’s start with how they ended up there. We, aliens, or whatever mundane call us, are takin’ over tha’ earth. It started to happen when tha’ Gobi was expandin’ what mundane call desertification, and so tha’ Chinese government tried to stop it from plantin’ forests. Mundane call it tha’ green wall of china. But they d’ nowt work, so tha’ scientists decided to use chemicals instead. I d’ nowt know what went wrong, but a big explosion happened and tha’ whole forest came alive, includin’ me. Now, I know you will be thinkin’ that tis’ is nowt real, but it is true. All tha’ men tried to fight us, but we are smart and fast, so we captured them all and put them to work for our king, Lud. I am just a low rank officer, and even us, we are scared of tha’ king, Lud. Our greatest entertainment so far, is seein’ and hearin’ tha’ mundane cry out in fear and agony, it is funny. I heard from the higher officer saying that tha’ Lud king wants to force tha’ weak mundanes to create more of us to have even higher control. So there is goin’ to be a few more green walls of china. And tha’ mutated animals of the Gobi like tha’ grey bears, striped- tailed gazelles and tha’ doubled clawed eagles are goin’ to be pets for us. Horray! My bondmate and I are goin’ out tomorrow on our first date. Wish me luck journal!

KatnetaTru The Blue Moon of Gobi Macau Anglican College, Hilary Chan, Fiction: Group 2

hen I was looking at the old world map, wondering at such a vast desert in China, my grandpa suddenly patted me on the shoulder. I was terrified and screamed, “Ahhhhhhh!” Grandpa laughed and laughed until I cried out in anger, “you scared me!” Grandpa Joseph loves to scare people like a small kid does. But when he noticedW that I was really angry, he calmed me down, “Easy…. little girl, time for an exciting story.” He took a glance at the map, at where I was spotting last. I plopped down on my seat and got ready for another of Grandpa’s marvelous stories about animals or mysteries! “The story began on a foggy Sunday, in New York. Timothy and his best friend Juliet were at the library looking for some information to finish their project. When they opened a book called “Treasures in the World”, an old, crinkle and dirty paper fell out. Juliet picked it up and carefully examined it. She found out that it was a map to a treasure called the “Blue Moon” hidden in the Gobi Desert. They studied the map and finally decided that it would be a great and interesting adventure. So, they packed and went all the way from New York to Mongolia. From Mongolia, they walked all the way to Gobi Desert. When they arrived, they only saw golden eagles flying around and black-tailed gazelles running. They were surprised to see a lot of empty houses but with no human around. Since they couldn’t ask anyone, they took out the map and studied it. A golden eagle then landed on the map and made noises like trying to talk to them. Both Juliet and Timothy had special powers. Timothy was so strong and powerful that he could lift up anything and Juliet could talk to animals. “Do you have a name?” she asked the eagle. The eagle replied, “My name is Gold and I am the leader of all eagles here.” “Do you know about the treasure?” “It was said long time ago a precious diamond was hidden in the Gobi Desert. Many explorers tried to find it but they all vanished afterwards. A few days ago, some men riding the Bactrian camel had come to rob everyone and kidnap the children. They were forcing the people to help them find the treasure.” Gold looked sad and helpless. Juliet and Timothy were wrathful. They invited Gold to join their exploring group and promised they would help to save the children.. They stayed in one of the empty houses for the night. Early the next morning, they began their dangerous journey. Their first stop was the Cactus Forest. On their way, they saw a snow leopard chasing a black-tailed gazelle. The gazelle cried for help, “He’s one of those men’s leopards, trying to catch me back to his masters!” Timothy was furious to see that. He picked up the snow leopard, and all the way, he kicked it to the other side of the desert. The black-tailed gazelle told them that she was called Christy and the men were trying to catch her because she knew where the treasure was. Christy thanked them by leading them the way to the Cactus Forest. The poison cactuses were fatal. They saw a marbled polecat accidentally touched one and right away, it died. But as they followed Christy’s steps carefully in the Cactus Forest, they finally passed through it safely. According to the map, the next spot they needed to go to was the Goyo Plants City. Christy was alarmed, “The men are already there. Their head Howard will kill anyone that goes in the Goyo Plants City. He will feed you to the snow leopards, then get your map and find the treasure!” But Juliet and Timothy weren’t scared. Timothy even decided to fight with the men in the Goyo Plants City! Juliet was more intelligent. She thought of a plan and explained, “We couldn’t risk fighting them. Instead, Timothy, you can distract the men by throwing some large rocks to the other side while the rest of us will sneak past the area. We get to their place, then after getting the diamond, we can save the children” The plan came into an action. Timothy threw some gigantic stones to the other side of Goyo Plants City while Juliet and Christy tried to crawl past the area. However, the men were too smart to be tricked. They ran right in front of them. Just when they were about to get in a fight, some eagles flew right above them and carried the two kids and Christy way up high in the sky. Gold was smiling so brightly that skin around his beak was all curled up. He questioned the eagles, “Why are you sillies here? You’ll get hurt.” But the eagles answered that all they wanted to do was to protect their leader. Tears swelled Gold’s eyes. The eagles brought them down safely away from the men. Gold then ordered them to leave. The exploring group went on and after three days, they finally were there, at the Sand Palace. It’s an amazing sight, with sparkling golden sand shining in the warmth of the sun. Christy led them to a room covered with dust, spider-webs and rubbish. They were shocked to see such an “impressive” room. Juliet, under Christy’s instruction, opened a trapdoor on the floor in the corner of the room. Juliet had her mouth hung open by what she saw behind the trapdoor! Golden furniture, diamond floor, silver walls and most of all, she saw a lovely, glistening, blue diamond in the middle of the room. It was the Blue Moon! Gold flew in, took the diamond, and they were ready to leave. Suddenly, the Palace was collapsing, with lots of sand falling onto them. Juliet was almost buried by the sand when she heard someone calling, “Wake up, wake up! Juliet Chan.” I opened my eyes and saw Grandpa calling me. Did I fall asleep? Was it Grandpa’s story or was it my wonderful dream. Anyway, I felt so excited that I decided to write down this incredible story and share with others. The Gobi Boy Macau Anglican College, Sophie Hunka, Fiction: Group 2

nce in the southern part of the Gobi desert, there lived an American boy called Greg. How did he get there? You ask well. It all started when he was about ten when his parents raised enough money to bring him for a family vacation to the Gobi desert in Asia. They chose this location because there were lots of activities like camel riding and Osand surfing. There were also special kinds of wildlife, like Snow leopards, Takhi, Jerboa, Gobi bears, Ibex and Marbled Polecats. Greg learnt about them in school so of course he was excited about this first vacation in his life. Greg was also a little scared because his family was not really rich. Even though they got the money for vacation, they could only travel by an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) from Datong in China to the Gobi desert. They travelled days and nights. While they were driving across the border to the Desert, something happened and that changed Greg’s life. As they were driving, something big, brown and furry started chasing them. Greg’s dad drove faster but that something sped up as well and jumped onto his mum who was sitting at the back. Greg’s dad twisted the ATV but could not shake it off. The beast was turning towards Greg and his dad. Greg’s dad knew if he stopped the vehicle, all of them would be eaten. He slowed down the ATV, pushed Greg out and then sped up again, away with the beast. As Greg recovered from the fall, he realized what had happened to his parents. He had studied about it in school. It was a Gobi bear which got his parents. He cried at the loss of his parents and wanted to cry forever. But he knew that wouldn’t help. He tried to remember what he had learnt about the Gobi desert and “night” came to his thought. Greg had to find shelter quickly or he would die in the cold and be eaten by the night animals. Greg started wandering around and at sunset he found a herd of takhi horses. He chose the calmest and mellowest horse and hopped onto it. He hoped that the horses would head into a cave to stay for the night. Greg was right. Soon the horses started heading to a cave. In the cave Greg found a lot of interesting plants and he fell asleep on the softest and most colorful one. In the morning he was woken up by the trotting horses. He woke up in horror as he watched the horses trotting away. “Nooooooooo!” Screamed Greg. His only chance of finding civilization went trotting away in the sunrise. Greg walked and walked, with no clear direction to go. He was hot, hungry and thirsty. He recognized some saxaul trees so he got some of the barks and squeezed water from it into his mouth. Feeling more refreshed, he continued walking until he found some cactuses. Then he stopped for another rest. Greg used a rock to scratch away the spines and ate the juicy cactus. After that, Greg kept walking again until it was sunset. In the distance he saw something blurred. It became clearer as he walked closer. It was a small town in the middle of nowhere. Greg started running until he ran into the town. The locals there didn’t understand him. Luckily there were two English immigrants. They came over to check out what happened. Greg told them the whole story and answered lots of questions. They then took Greg in for food and water. The two immigrants decided to take in Greg and take him in like he was their own. Since Greg had no other relatives, he stayed there and learned Mongolian. He spent the rest of his life in the town, got married and had fourteen kids. He learnt more about the wildlife in the desert and enjoyed his life in the Gobi. The Buried Secret Macau Anglican College, Catherine Kuong, Fiction: Group 2

here was once a girl named Abby who lived in a small village next to the Gobi Desert. Her parents were working on a project there. Although she lived next to it, she never went in the Gobi. But she always wished to experience how it was like in a huge desert. According to the research of Abby, she learnt that the first dinosaur egg was found there. TThat made her even more eager to go. So one day, she asked her mom, “Am I allowed to the Gobi Desert with you?” Her mom looked shocked and said, “Abby, do you know how big and dangerous it is in the Gobi? No, you can’t go with me! If you go there by yourself, you’ll get lost.” But Abby didn’t surrender. She decided to go by herself, even though she knew her mom would be furious when she knew about that. Abby silently packed her bag with two bottles of water, some food, a map, a thick blanket and a hat. Since she was already thirteen, she wasn’t scared. She tiptoed out the door and off she went, to the Gobi Desert. On the way, Abby walked past the big leaves, bushes and tall trees. After one day, she came to see a wooden sign written “The Gobi Desert”, under the bright sun hanging above the sand, cactuses and camels. She was excited at seeing such a great scene. She walked into the dry desert; she ran to the camels and patted them on their humps. She could feel how dirty the camels were, and she thought “I hope I won’t be as dirty as the camels soon...” At first, Abby had no problem in the dry land. But soon, as the sun went down and the moon came up, it was really cold there. She heard a strong wind blowing around her, so she took out her thick blanket and put it around herself. But it didn’t help much, the sand was blown over her face and she felt herself moving towards one side. Suddenly she thought, “What am I here for? I want to go home, I can’t stay here forever.” Her mom was right, she really got lost. She tried to find the way back, but she could not. Everywhere in the desert became exactly the same. All she needed was a compass, but she did not bring one. Poor Abby was too tired, she decided to just lay on the dirty ground with her thick blanket which was actually not too thick after all, and she fell asleep. However, the horrible weather at night was a big disturbance and she woke up in the middle of the night. “What am I going to do?” she thought, and she started crying. “I really hope I’ve listened to my mom and not have come here! Now what should I do?” She was scared but her fear was still struggling with her desire inside her heart. “Since I’m already here, why don’t I make the most of it?” At dawn, her desire won. Abby started walking through the desert, looking for some fun until she fell over a big rock. She looked at the rock and said, “This rock is so weird. It has patterns on it! Let me keep it!” She carried the rock in her arms. Suddenly, she had a strange feeling about the rock. She stared at the rock curiously until she saw a crack. “What is this?” she thought. A few seconds later, she saw another crack. This time, it was a bigger crack and little by little, the rocked cracked open in two halves. Abby discovered that the rock wasn’t a rock at all! It was a dinosaur egg! An adorable baby dinosaur hatched out! “So cute!” shouted Abby with surprise. “It’s amazing! I can’t believe my eyes!” However, Abby was tired soon and her fear overcame her excitement. She walked with no direction. Luckily, Abby had the dinosaur baby with her. She fed him with some food she had brought. She named him Dan and started talking to him. This made her feel less lonely. Fortunately, before sunset, she heard her dad’s voice in the distance, “Abby, where are you?” “I’m here!” cried Abby. “It’s time to go home now. So, let’s go!” she whispered to Dan and put him in her bag. She couldn’t leave her friend behind. Abby kept Dan secretly under her bed. The dinosaur grew bigger and was growing very fast. It seemed Dan became bigger every minute. Soon, there was not enough food for him. Dan got hungrier and hungrier. One day, the hungry Dan looked at Abby with a real dinosaur-like face and jumped to Abby, trying to eat her! “No Dan! No! No, boy!” cried Abby. Dan got closer and closer. Soon Dan was ready to gulp Abby up. “Hey dino, shoo!” Abby’s dad came to the rescue! Abby’s mom handed a bottle to her dad. He cursed on Dan and pointed the bottle at Dan. Poof! Dan was scooped in the bottle, smaller and smaller it got and finally fitted inside the bottle. They brought the bottle back to the Gobi Desert and hid it deep under layers of sand. Then Abby asked, “Will Dan die? He was my only friend in the desert when I was lost. Even though he tried to hurt me, please don’t kill him!” “He won’t die but he doesn’t belong here. We just hope nobody will find him and release him,” replied her dad. On the way back home, Abby kept on asking her parents why they knew how to trap the dinosaur in a bottle. They looked at each other and smiled, “there are lots of secrets in the Gobi Desert.” Abby was wondering what would happen to Dan later on. Would Dan die? What if someone found Dan? A New Experience Macau Anglican College, Bernice Li, Fiction: Group 2

he blinding rays of the sun were seeping into my closed eyelids. Ah, today is going to be lots of fun! I thought on that sunny Friday morning. My class is learning about the different regions this month, so my teacher, Ms. Lilly, suggested that going on a fieldtrip to the four different regions ourselves should help us learn much easier. So last week she Tsent out permission slips about going to the ‘Great Land of Asia’ by plane. When she announced that, the whole class was quiet for a second, and then started to yelp with happiness. I sprang out of bed, ran for the bathroom, jumped into my uniform, grabbed my suitcase, and snatched my breakfast on the way out the door. I even stopped in the doorway to receive my kisses and hugs from my parents. “We’ll miss you honey bun.” “And don’t forget to write in that notepad of yours.” I reluctantly nodded at both of them and rushed out into the cold morning air. When I arrived at school, I realized that the small yellow school bus was all ready to take my class to the International Airport of Oregon (Also known as IAO), where we were going to catch our private plane, sponsored by Principal Frank. As we jumbled into our school bus, I thought about the journey that lay ahead of me. “All righty kiddos, if you want to stay on this bus, then you’re going to have to stick to my rules: No pushing or shoving; no screaming even though I know you guys are excited; and most of all, stick to your teacher. The airport is very busy, so don’t wander off by yourselves. Do you understand?” the bus driver said. “YES! WE UNDERSTAND!” we replied obediently. “Okay then, let’s go!” The trip from our school to the IAO took 15 minutes, and by the time we got there, it was 8:16. And golly, the IAO was big! The lines at the check-in were a mile long, and the commotion! It was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself hum! “Okay, remember children, stick together,” said Ms. Lilly. We huddled together in a pack like little newborn mice, and then quickly weighed our suitcases. Some of my classmates’ suitcases were so enormous and heavy that we had to mail it to our first stop: the mountain region, Mt. Everest. When we settled down on our plane, Ms. Lilly told us some fun facts about Mount Everest. Ms. Lilly had provided the class a small yellow notebook each to write some things we have learned throughout the trip, so we wrote down the facts about Mt. Everest: Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth. Mt. Everest is about 29,035 feet high today. It is about 60 million years old. It was formed by the movement of the Indian tectonic plate pushing up and against the Asian plate. Everest grows about 2 inches taller every year. We read the facts together and agreed that Mt. Everest was certainly a very fascinating mountain. The trip took about 14 hours. We were worn out, but we were still enthusiastic about seeing it. The class stayed there at Mt. Everest for a day and a half, keeping ourselves warm by putting on two pairs of pants, two shirts under our three sweaters, and boots with fluffy cotton stuffed inside of it. On the next day, we took pictures of the massive mountain with our disposable cameras while Ms. Lilly planned our next trip with the captain pilot. “Alrighty, children. There may be a few slight changes to our trip today. We will be heading toward the mighty Gobi Desert, instead of the roaring oceans. We shall learn all about life in a desert. Understood?” Ms. Lilly announced. All the children nodded. “Good. Now, who’s ready to have some fun?” “We are!!!” shouted the enthusiastic class. “Let’s go!” I was the first to get into the plane. The Gobi Desert sounded interesting, and I am feeling more enthusiastic than ever. An hour or two after the take-off time, we landed. The captain of the plane announced, “Good afternoon, boys and girls. Today we landed in an oasis inside the GOBI DESERT. I know you’re excited, and I want you to have fun, but I need to lay down some rules here: No fooling around; no digging or kicking the sand; no covering each other’s bodies in the sand. Are you with me here?” Everyone nodded. “Good, we can start having fun!” He shouted. There wasn’t really much to explore. There were only a few palm trees and what looked like a small lake. But it got interesting when Ms. Lilly demonstrated how the early Egyptians got water from rivers with a vase. The pilot said that he needed to go somewhere, so he left with the airplane. We camped in tents next to the lake. Throughout the whole night, all I could think about was this: How could Ms. Lilly let our pilot leave? Just like that? There was no doubt. Ms. Lilly had absolutely no idea of what she had said at that moment. The next morning, when everyone was awake, Ms. Lilly told us some terrible news. “Unfortunately, the pilot lost his way when he was leaving yesterday. It seems that we are now stranded here.” I knew this was going to happen!!! I argued with myself. Now look at what we’ve gotten into. What are we going to do now? No one’s here to save us in the middle of a vast, dry desert. The next few days were even more hopeless. At least some kids had some sense to pack a few snacks. We survived with clean water from the lake and also by eating up the snacks. And finally, after 5 days of wandering around for help, I caught sight of a helicopter circling around on top of our heads. “HELP US!!! HELP US!!!” We shouted. The pilot heard us and landed near our campsite. Then you can already predict what happened… we got sent back to school and each of us wrote a report on the Gobi. We may have not learnt many things about the amazing desert, but I learned one thing: That sometimes, it’s good to explore the big, wide world. The Tale of the Desert Hero Macau Anglican College, Myles Ng, Fiction: Group 2

arrow was watching the morning news. “A giant sandstorm is brewing in the Gobi Desert. Scientists predict that it will sweep south all over the world. It will reach Macau and Hong Kong in two months!” exclaimed the reporter. Garrow was extremely worried. His grandfather, an old wise man, came into the room. Looking at Garrow brooding Gin the corner, he decided to tell Garrow a secret that he had kept all these years. He told Garrow that their family was a family of elves. That explains my pointed ears, heightened senses, agility and speed, thought Garrow. His grandfather continued, “Our true homeland is the Gobi Desert, and for nine generations, everyone in our family has been able to find a dragon hatchling and make friends with it.” As he went on, Garrow became determined to find a dragon, make friends with it, and save the world. He expressed this idea to his grandfather, and his grandfather agreed. He advised Garrow to build a wall to block the sand from sweeping south. The thought of building a forest ran through Garrow. His grandfather gave Garrow his blessing so he packed all his necessities and departed. The world’s fate now lay in Garrow’s hands. Garrow might not know it yet, but he would never see this house again. After flying in a plane to the northernmost part on China, he went on foot and hiked towards the Desert. Soon it was night, and the freezing cold made Garrow roll out three layers of blankets to sleep. The next day, he entered the Desert around midmorning, though he was still leagues away from the Tian Shan Mountain Range, where dragons and their eggs were rumoured to be found. His journey to the Tian Shan was uneventful, but once there, strange things started to happen. First was the sudden small sandstorm, which almost blew him off the track. Then came a suspicious old woman who asked him many questions. His every sense told him to get away from this unearthly place, but yet he forged on. Garrow ran through the dust, trying to see the pathway. The dust was still in the air after the sudden sandstorm. His skin got torn on a random cactus blocking the way. He cursed it and continued forward. The sandstorm had blown across the trail, leaving no sign whatsoever of the strange animal tracks that led him into this strange part of the Mountain ranges. As Garrow walked along the mountains, he saw fresh prints of a giant beast. He knelt down and examined the prints. There were claws with three nails that pushed backwards with every step. He saw that the tracks were far and few between, which meant the creature must have run. Then, the tracks suddenly disappeared. He examined the tracks again. The last set of tracks was parallel, and the claws pushed downward as well as backwards. Garrow guessed that the creature must have flown. Disappointed, he had no choice but to continue his search. The next day, Garrow found fresh prints of the giant beast again. It led to the summit of one of the mountains. At the top, he was confronted with a lone shadow in the horizon. Then he heard a crack. He looked backwards and saw a nest. All the eggs inside it burst open at once and a lot of dragon heads squawked at him. Instinct told him that he was to choose one of them as his dragon friend. Then voices inside his mind were conversing. Hello, my friend. Hi! My name is Garrow. What’s yours? That’s for you to decide. Garrow sifted through a lot of names, but none of them fit. Then something hit him so he continued talking to the dragon in his mind. You are female, aren’t you? Yes, my friend. Are you Saphira? Yes. He realised that Saphira was the only one he could communicate with, so he chose her. He asked her if she wanted to join her in saving the world, and told her his plan. She agreed and started to jabber about it excitedly. It took Garrow a good deal of effort to calm her down. It was then that Garrow felt the excitement and exhilaration of finding a dragon. But they could not start right away. Saphira was not yet strong enough to carry Garrow at that moment. But she had a sudden grow spurt after a week. Two weeks passed, and Saphira started to breathe smoke though there was no hint of flame. A few days later, Saphira was as big as Garrow’s body. One more week later, she was able to breathe fire, which was a sign of maturity. Garrow then asked: Where should we go? The Amazon forest, the largest forest in the world, and California with all the tall trees and redwood. Let’s go to California first. Okay. As they skimmed over mountains, they saw many trees, and Saphira uprooted them and planted them in the Southern side of the Gobi Desert. They then went to California for redwoods, the tallest trees in the world. Afterwards, they went to the Amazon forest for stronger trees. Sometimes, Saphira went for the smaller, younger trees, and she was able to carry four. But when they chose the really large ones, she could only carry one. Soon, there was a giant wall on the south of the Desert – with all kinds of trees from all around the world – and the solid wall blocked the sandstorm like a fly being swatted away. Garrow had a new name – Garrow the Hero. And the wall Saphira and he built soon became a dense forest, guarding the Gobi Desert. Garrow gave a call, and all known elves migrated to this giant forest. Under his leadership, all the elves helped in keeping the plantation healthy. The elves called it the Guarding Forest, but the name was soon forgotten. Now it is known as the Green Wall of China. Lesson from Gobi Macau Anglican College, Desiree Wolfsgruber, Fiction: Group 2

fter 17 hours and 37 minutes, I arrived at the Lhasa Galan Airport to join the Gobi wilderness camp. A flight attendant, assigned to accompany a minor flying alone, which is me, assisted me to the immigration and helped me collect my luggage, “You will have a fun time in the Gobi, cheer up! See you in ten days’ time.” I was notA so looking forward to the camp. Why did my parents send me here? The camp is designed exclusively for teenagers, like me, to experience living in Gobi desert. Definitely, not teenagers like me! I spotted a group of Gobi campers bearing a welcome sign in the crowd of the arrival hall. They greeted me with a warm smile, “I’m Natasha, and this is Joey and bla and bla and bla... We are all campers like you. Welcome to Summer Camp Gobi!” I waved at them. Do I bother to remember their names? We all went out of the airport and met Leader Martin. Then we jumped into a safari jeep to go to the campsite. It was a long ride to the campsite. We passed by a pasture of sand dunes. We only spotted cactuses and a few camels along the sand dunes. That’s it. All the twenty teenagers were chatting nonstop. No one seemed to be exhausted from the hot and dry weather except me. Leader Martin escorted us to a huge tent where cold ice teas awaited for us. Beside the huge tent, there were three other tents, one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the supplies. We were told to mingle and get to know each other, but I was too tired to bother. During dinner, we were told about our schedule as well as stuff we had to prepare everyday. We were briefed to get ready by 6.30am for breakfast and be ready by 7am every day. I sneaked out to bed silently when everyone was still discussing the summer program. The morning alarm woke us right at 6 am. A dull set of uniform was placed next to our bed. Our uniform was a grey long-sleeves polo shirt, with grey shorts, and a pair of grey sneakers. Leader Martin even wore the same uniform as ours! For the first three days, we learned about the map of Gobi, the survival aid in case we got lost, reading the desert trail, and observing weather to predict the sandstorm. On the fourth day, we were going on our first trip to the desert. Everyone was so excited for this trip, except me. It was a sizzling hot day, with the sun permanently on top of our head. Leader Martin reminded us about robust weather change in the desert, which we need to observe from time to time. After three hours’ drive, we arrived at the sandy mountain. I forgot its name; they all looked the same to me. We started to walk to the nearest oasis. I was sweating from head to toe. My mind became blurred. All I could hear is the Gobi desert is bla…bla…bla… hot and sunny and we have to be bla…bla…bla…, watch out for the bla…bla…bla... I secretly took out my phone and started fiddling around with it while walking slowly. Suddenly, I noticed that it was so quiet. I looked around- it was blurred due to a mild sandstorm. Where is everybody? I started to panic. What should I do? Maybe I should go back to the jeep and wait for everyone. But there was no jeep to be found except for sand and more sand. I walked the opposite direction with hands covering half of my face from the sandstorm. I gazed to the distance- the sand dunes all looked the same. I started to cry. I should have paid attention to what Martin had told us. I did not know what to do. Wait, I have a survival kit in my backpack. Inside, there was the survival instruction, a compass, a map, a torch, a bottle of water, and energy bars. I read the instruction carefully. First, I had to find the main oasis in the northeast. Then I could follow the blue trail that led me to the riverbank stream. I started to walk, following the compass. After about 30 minutes, just before I gave up, I spotted a camel station.The camels were grazing their last bunch of grass and hay given by a man. “You must be one of the Martin’s campers. Take this camel. It will bring you back to the camp. Just keep south, and hang on tight. Camels can be very fast!” said the man. I was so happy and speechless. At the same time, I was nervous and afraid of the camel. The man put a brightly colored saddle and the bridle on a camel. Then he knelt down by the side of the camel, so that I could climb up. Oh, it was higher than sitting on the horse. I could have a good view of the sand dunes. This is my first camel ride ever. I was between excited and scared, but it was very exciting. Soon, we arrived at the oasis, and I spotted Natasha, climbing up to the jeep. I shouted out her name so loudly, but she did not seem to hear me. I patted the camel to make it run faster but instead, it ran to the other direction. I pulled the bridle and swung the rope back to the direction of the jeep. The camel just stopped and refused to go any further. I couldn’t get off the camel, as it was so tall. What should I do? Oh, a torch. I switched it on and off. The jeep soon came to my direction. Cheerfully, Natasha waved at me. Leader Martin was so impressed with my story. That day, the Gobi desert taught me a good lesson- not to be ignorant and love the nature. Magnum Opus in the Gobi Marymount Primary School, Eleanor Cheung, Fiction: Group 2

Chapter 1 - A special paint

“Yippee!” I screamed excitedly as I surfed over the sand dunes in the Gobi Desert. Surfing the up and down terrain of Gobi’s sand dunes was the favorite pastime of fairies. The thrilling experiences of surfing the singing dunes of Khongoryn Els could not be even described in words as the dunes were over a hundred people tall and hundreds of kilometers long. I am Fairy Eleanor, a senior student of the Fairy Academy for Art. I am proud to be a student of this famous academy. The admission to the academy could be as difficult as vacuuming all the sand in the Gobi Desert. Each fairy had to go through three rounds of audition including painting, sculpture and . More importantly, the academy only chose fairies with a pure heart of bringing joy and beauties to the human world. In my graduation project, I was assigned a very challenging task of creating a signature piece of art for the Gobi. I really wanted to create a stunning piece of art that would amaze the whole world and therefore I could graduate with distinction. I travelled around the Gobi in search of ideas. One day my friends and I went to the desert to get some painting materials, an old man slowly came towards us. His skin was luminously golden in color and his body was surrounded by an aura. He said to us, “Children, do you want to paint beautiful pictures that will receive high acclaims and remain in this world forever?” In astonishment, we replied, “How come you read our minds?” With a smile of affection, he replied, “I am an old man of wisdom. Skim off the colorful crystal from the rainbow, boil it with the mineral water from the Crescent Moon Spring.” Then he scrapped a dab of golden luminous color from his skin and said, “Add this to the color. It will make your painting a celestial beauty. Remember to pour your heart to your paintings and give blessings to them; in return your paintings will bless those who see them.” We couldn’t thank him enough and we hurried to school. Before we parted, we asked him his name. He replied, “My name is Buddha. You can find me meditating under a fig tree in the oasis.”

Chapter 2 - Building the shrines

The news of the new paint spread throughout the school, it made our artwork magnificent. We began to paint the scenes of Silk Road, mountains, rivers, cities and hunting activities. We painted in walls of grottos. Our murals radiated iridescence from the rainbow. One day while we were sand surfing, we saw a pack of bandits robbing caravans, killing all the travelers. We were panic-stricken and bolted to the fig tree to find Buddha. Seeing our eyes flooded with tears, Buddha pitifully said, “Dear children, do you want to save the lives of the travelers?” We unanimously nodded our head. “Build shrines out of the caves and make sculptures of me.” We followed Buddha’s instructions and built hundreds of shrines with Buddha statues using terra cotta and paint with the special paints. The Buddha statues were in different postures, some were sat with crossed legs; some are lying on one side to sleep, some with their hands upraised; some with Buddha sitting on lotus flower meditating. We also made Buddha murals on the walls of the caves. The murals depicted the stories told by Buddha. Soon after we finished the shrines, thousands of pious monks and laity came to pray and worship. The travellers were being protected from the demon-filled perils of the open desert.

Chapter 3 - Building the library

Another day, my friends and I went to the desert again we tried to collect some hair from the two-humped Bactrian camels to make our painting brushes. Buddha suddenly appeared and gave us some vellum of his manuscripts. “Children, I am soon leaving this place, copy these manuscripts in different languages and put them in the shrines so my followers can read them and remember my teaching of peace, love and joy.” We brought the manuscripts back to school and all the students diligently copied them in Tibetan, Uigur, Sanskrit, and Sogdian languages. The height of the pile of manuscripts that we produced was more than a hundred feet. We built a library to hold all these manuscripts of more than 50,000 copies.

Chapter 4 - The Flying Apsaras

We saw Buddha the last time when he was sitting on lotus leaves under a fig tree in the Gobi. A parade of spirits was fluttering airily in the breeze above him and some spirits were flying among flowers with their long silk streamers. The spirits were Buddha’s minstrels. They danced and played pipa, banjo and flute for him. After a while, devoted followers of Buddha arrived and swamped the place. These followers travelled a thousand miles across the Gobi simply to seek the wisdom of Buddha. When Buddha expounded his doctrine, his voice was melodious, like that of an ancient song-bird. At the end, the souls of his followers got relieved, liberated from fears and filled with love again. At this moment, the parade of spirits scattered fresh fragrant flowers. The scent was so delighting and the scene was enlightening and peaceful. It looked like a paradise and it deeply imprinted on my mind. I decided to paint this wonderful scene for my graduation project. I drew the parade of spirits on the ceiling of the caves; they look youthful, elegant and full of love. I used silk for the streamers. I drew more than 4,500 images of them and I finally became an outstanding genius artist and graduated with distinction. I named them The Flying Apsaras, they were my magnum opus. The work of our Academy was honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you want to see our marvel, come to Mogao Grottes. You will be blessed by the Flying Apsaras. Secret Gobi Marymount Primary School, Phoenix Hui, Fiction: Group 2

hoenix walked down the hospital ward with a heavy heart. Standing at the doors she silently wiped her tears and pushed the door open gently wearing a pretentious smile. Andy, Phoenix’s father, an eighty-year-old man, was once an eminent astronomer. Phoenix, under the continual influence of his father, has also become an astronomer. PPhoenix slowly sat down beside her father’s bed, softly held his father’s hands and asked gently, “You specially asked the nurse to call me in today, what is it?” Andy replied with a serious look on his face, “Before I die, I want to tell you this deepest secret that had been hidden in my heart for years. Do you believe in aliens?” Phoenix paused for a moment, “Perhaps……” Andy continued to say, “The secret I wanted to tell you is….I had met aliens who lived in this world.” Andy went on to tell Phoenix about his adventure, “Your grandfather was an expert in treasure hunting. When I was ten years old, he went to Gobi Desert in China to find the treasure of Genghis Khan, the King of Mongolia. During the summer, my mum brought me to visit my dad at his camp site. He only briefly stayed at the camp site before he set out on his treasure hunting expedition while I and mum were left to wait at the camp site. One morning, I stealthily crept out of the camp site to explore the surroundings. As I wandered, a powerful sandstorm struck. When the sandstorm finally passed, I found myself surrounded by similar sand dunes and my foot prints are nowhere to be found. Slowly, I lost my consciousness under the scorching sun. “Babo…lawo..saho…” What was that? I opened my eyes slowly and followed the direction of the voices. Oh golly… They are monsters covered with golden scales, their head is gigantic on a small body, with long and thin limbs. I freaked out and dash for my life. But the two golden monsters immediately apprehend me and said, “Don’t be scared! We won’t hurt you.” I asked horrifyingly, “Wwwwhh…. Who..are…you? Wh…What is this place?” One of the monsters replied, “I’m Karu. This is my friend, Barabu. Five thousand years ago, our ancestors came from Mars to the Earth. Our ancestors have lived together with the human’s ancestors and even passed on our technology. However, the humans used our technology to develop weapons resulting in a war almost led the humans and our ancestors to extinction. For the few ancestors who survived the narrow escape, they used technology to fully erase the memory of those human survivals. Our ancestors retrieved to live underground since then. You are now under the Gobi desert, in one of our treatment rooms.” I was totally overwhelmed by Karu and Babaru’s identity. “How old are you? Why can you speak our language? Why didn’t human ever discover you? Why did your ancestors migrate to the Earth?” Karu replied amiably, “According to the human’s calendar, Barabu and I are already one hundred and twenty years old. Mars originally resembles the Earth; there are mountains, sea, plants and animals. It was such a beautiful place. But our over-development completely destroyed the planet’s ecological system. The surface of Mars became bare and unlivable, so we eventually moved to the underground for survival. But there was limited space in the underground, forcing some of the Martians to migrate to other planets. This silver device on my wrist is a brain interference control monitor. It can sense my need and automatically activates. It interferes with my brain or other creature’s brains. I don’t actually know how to speak in human’s language, but this device interferes with your brain so that you can understand my language. It can also make me invisible so that human can never discover our existence. In case they do, we will have to capture them and we will use another device to erase all their memories. Leave now and leave quietly. Don’t let any other Martians discover you, they will erase your memory and you won’t even recognise your parents.” “Oh Karu, please, take me back to my dad’s camp site.” Karu said, “I will lead you to the secret tunnel that connects the upper-ground.” Suddenly, shouting echoed from the back of the tunnel; the Martian guards had tracked us down! Karu suddenly pressed a red button in the tunnel and a heavy gate immediately came down and blocked the guards. At the same time, the alarm went off. Karu turned to me and said, “The alarm calls for our soldiers. Run.” Soon, heavy footsteps filled the tunnel. Heavily armed soldiers came after us. We finally reached the end of the tunnel and Karu pressed the green button on the door and we were thrown back to the upper-ground. But Karu and Barabu stopped abruptly. “Com’on, we need to run!” I yelled. Karu answered calmly, “Be calm. The soldiers cannot come up to the surface without the commander’s permission.” Karu led me back to the camp site which was only minutes away from the secret tunnel. Karu and Barabu stopped and turned to me. “It’s time to say goodbye. When you are back, don’t mention anything about Martians or our underground empire. Can you promise me this?” “I promise.” We hugged and said our goodbyes. Andy turned to Phoenix, “This adventure happened decades ago and I had kept it hidden. I studied astronomy since I believed in the existence of the Martians, and I also believe there are other living creatures occupying other planets waiting for us to discover. We, humans are continually damaging the ecological system of Earth. I truly hoped we can find another planet suitable for human survival before we turned Earth into another Mars. I am telling you this as I hope you can carry out my unfulfilled wishes. Will you promise me?” Phoenix nodded and hugged her father tightly, whispering at his ears, “I promise you! I promise you!” Shortlisted

An Odyssey to Gobi Desert Marymount Primary School, Annette Lam, 9

t’s so dark, so cold, so quiet here. I’ve no idea where I am,” I wondered when I woke up in “ this sheer wideness. I cleared my sleepy vision as the dawn was falling, I saw a vast area covered with bare rock and gravel, and a few sand dunes. “Is it a desert, not really, there are cars travelling freely along…” I was in a great puzzle. IOff I started my journey out of curiosity. To my surprise, having travelled for some time, I found some animals living there even though the environment seemed so harsh. I saw camels. ‘Camels’, kind of animal, associated me to ‘desert’. Here, the state-of-the-art technology applies - by using the Global Positioning System in my cellphone, I successfully located myself being somewhere between the northern and northwestern China and southern Mongolia. Hence, I guessed if it was a desert in the region of Northern China and Mongolia, it could only be the Gobi Desert. As I was travelling on, I came across some other travelers. We had a common goal and interest in unveiling the mystery of Gobi. We opened our dialogue with some interesting facts - Gobi is a Mongolian word which means ‘waterless place’. Gobi is the largest desert region located in Asia and is the fifth largest desert in the world. It covers an area of approximately 500,000 square miles. Gobi is not covered with sand, but with bare rock and gravel, with shifting sands and salt marshes at lower levels. That explains why I could find cars travelling there. Gobi is made up of five distinct eco-regions, namely, the Eastern Gobi desert steppe, the Alashan Plateau semi-desert, the Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe, the Junggar Basin semi-desert and the Tian Shan range. Gobi is very ancient and historical, around 50 million years old. Back in the oldest days of the Mongol Empire, it was home to many important cities along the Silk Route. At that time, merchants travelled along the Silk Route to reach a particular destination where they could do their business by exchanging their merchandise and jewels. Gobi is not only ‘mature’ but also ‘fascinating’. I fell in love with ‘it’ at my first glimpse. Gobi is not comparable to other deserts because it belongs to our motherland, China, where my ancestors were born. It is located in the continent, Asia, where I live. How Gobi caught my eyes and held my breath -- I found Gobi fascinating as if it is an arrogant, charming lady. She has her ‘cool’ facet because of her altitude, being situated at a height of 3,000 – 5,000 feet above sea level. In the freezing winter, temperatures in Gobi could reach as low as -40ºF. Can you imagine how she looks when the whole desert is blanketed with a sheet of snow. It is so alluring that in a sense making her unrivalled! However, she could be ‘hot’ and ‘erotic’ in the blazing summer as the temperatures would rise up to 122ºF especially when the wind speed gets up to 85 miles an hour. She then behaves like an unruly little girl. She has her ‘attractive’ side. Apart from tourists and travelers, she does draw the attention of the explorers and scientists for Gobi in herself has a lot of treasures. She was once the home to many important cities along the Silk Route. She was once the cradle of archaeology’s significant findings - the first dinosaur eggs were found in this region during the 1922-25 expeditions. Geographically, Gobi spans two countries, sprawling from northern and northwestern China into southern Mongolia. She inherits both the attributes of Chinese and Mongolian. Gobi, definitely, has the characteristics of a Mongolian woman. She has exotic beauty, strong will and sense of pride. When I sat still in serenity in the desert, I could savor her inner beauty. Not to mention her breathtaking view whenever and wherever you find her. She could survive under such extreme weather conditions with 400 different species of plants and over 45 different species of animals and birds found in the desert. Up till now, every single step I walked in the desert, I found her full of wonders. On the other hand, like the Chinese (who are actively penetrating into every business sector e.g. property, stock and equity, premium goods etc. shoring up the global economy), Gobi is ‘aggressive’ too. Gobi is growing by more than 1,300 square miles every year, overtaking southern grasslands of China. Her expansive approach in terminology is desertification. Often, China experiences dust storms but recently they appear to be coming a lot more due to the current expansion. It worries the Chinese Government and they are now planting new forests - Green Wall of China in a hope to halt her spreading. To me, both Gobi’s expansion and Chinese aggression have alarmed us in the angles of environmental pollution and human behavior versus basic needs. Heading east to the Domogobi province in Mongolia, to my dismay, I saw some deformed livestock births like lambs with two heads or without lower jaw; goat kids and baby camels with missing or shriveled limbs. The herders living around told me that large number of livestock had died mysteriously in the previous winter. The deaths have led to concerns among the villagers about water contamination and uranium radiation from mining activities in the region. In the past two decades, massive reserves of uranium and a host of other precious metals and minerals including coal, oil and gas, copper, and gold have been uncovered between China and Russia. Most importantly, much of these resources are buried under this vast Gobi desert. It is reported that an estimated 55,000-ton uranium deposit has been located in the Ulaanbadrakh district, East Gobi. This significant uranium deposit and other mineral resources have prompted investors to rush into Gobi. Water is a precious resource in this arid region but mining activities can suck up huge volumes of water and adversely contaminate water. More unfortunate is desertification in the Gobi, which is eating up fertile grasslands that have sustained herders and their livestock for millennia. I love Gobi but I fear that “can Gobi still survive with her uniqueness?” Hey, here is cold, dark and quiet, where am I? …I kicked off my quilt and I am shivering. The New Tale of Gobi Desert Meng Tak Catholic School, Chan Herman, Fiction: Group 2

ong time ago, there was a treasure in the Gobi Desert. Many people wanted to take it away. Jamie liked adventure so he wanted to find it out and looked what was inside. Jamie was a clever boy. He had a strong desire to go to the Gobi Desert. During his school summer holiday, he decided to search for the adventure in the Gobi Desert. He Ldiscussed with his family about his plan but his parents worried about Jamie’s safety in that remote place. Eventually, his parents let him go and Jamie promised to take care of himself. On that night, Jamie packed his luggage and got ready for the departure the next morning. Jamie woke up early the next morning and had a quick breakfast with his family before leaving for the Gobi Desert. Jamie’s dad drove him to the Gobi Desert. Unfortunately, while they were half way through to the destination, the car broke down and was unable to go anymore. So Jamie needed to walk to the destination. He said goodbye to his dad and left. Jamie walked until the evening and decided to set a tent and had some food to eat in the strange place. The next day, he ate some breakfast and continued his journey. Suddenly, a strong wind blew and Jamie fell on the ground. His knees were hurt but he could still walk slowly. In a split second, a dragon flew out from nowhere. Jamie was scared and he ran away. The dragon flew even faster and stopped in front of Jamie. Jamie shouted for help. Suddenly, the dragon spoke to Jamie and told him that it could help Jamie to get to the Gobi Desert safely. The dragon had no name. Jamie realized that he couldn’t accept its help without rewarding it so he gave the dragon a name, Timmy, as a gift. Jamie rode on Timmy and flew away. After a-day journey, they arrived at the Gobi Desert. Jamie took out the map from his backpack and read for a while. A moment later, Jamie found the exact location of the treasure from the map and he believed that it would take a few hours to get there. Jamie then decided to have lunch with Timmy before searching the treasure in the Gobi Desert. After lunch, they carried on with the search. Eventually they got to the place where the treasure was. Unluckily, a wicked person, Jim was here. Jim knew that Jamie and the dragon wanted to take the treasure as well. In order to take the treasure safely, Jim shouted for help from the monster he made, Bobby which could spray fire. Bobby sprayed fire toward both Jamie and Timmy. Timmy made a storm by flapping its big pair of wings to blow off Bobby’s fire. Unfortunately, Timmy’s storm also destroyed the treasure and nothing was left. The treasure was gone! Both Jim and Jamie couldn’t get the treasure. Jim was angry so he ordered Bobby to spray the fire again. Accidentally, Jamie fell into the fire. Timmy flew into the fire and saved Jamie with his wings. At last, Jim got away with Bobby and didn’t come back anymore. Finally, Jamie brought Timmy back to home. Jamie made a house for it and they had thrilled the day together. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Meng Tak Catholic School, Ng Yan Yu, Fiction: Group 2

ne day, God discovered continuous destruction on his world by his people. At first, he let people manage the world hoping they will protect it. Yet, today he sees people doing a lot of bad things. People use a lot of electronic products and the world becomes hotter. Also, people Oalways waste a lot of food, but some poor people in Africa suffer from starvation. People don’t want to work hard to earn their living. People don’t feel ashamed to be thieves and burglars. Consequently, the God is very angry. The God wants to teach people a lesson. The Gobi Desert is a hot place. He wanted people to understand their evil actions. He increased the temperature of the Gobi Desert from 40 oc became 60oc. And he built a lot of pyramids there. The God blocked all other places in the world where people couldn’t live. They had to move to the Gobi Desert. After that, many people went there. All of them died in the desert. They died because they could not endure the high temperature. When people took back the people’s dead bodies with a machine, they found something. The dead bodies were dry so people knew Gobi Desert was sizzling and dry. Many scientists tried to use a machine to make some snow to cool down the place. However, the snow machine didn’t work. All the people were very disappointed. They continued to make some cold machine, but all of them didn’t work as well. When the machine was placed in the sky of Gobi Desert, it melted. So every one and every country didn’t want to spend money to make machine anymore. People knew that they were wrong. Yet doing bad things had become their bad habits. They couldn’t change it. They were so regretful for causing the destruction on the world. They apologized to the God. They prayed to the God and hoped to be forgiven. Then, the God sent an angel to teach people to be good. People had done a lot of good things for five years. At last, the God forgave the people. Walking In The Gobi Desert Peak School, Isabelle Baillache, Fiction: Group 2

t was finally here, my trip to the Gobi Desert. I was all packed. So with a courageous heart and excitement burning through me I left and travelled far away from the home I loved, my friends and my family. I was headed for the Gobi Desert. My name is Alice, Alice May. I come from England and I am about to turn 22. When I Iwas in high school I was in EVERY sports team and now I am planning to be an explorer. My plan was to be dropped off in the heart of the Gobi Desert and to travel to the other side. I knew it would take months to do but I was hungry for adventure and had been dreaming of it for years. Finally, after days of travelling on boats and planes, I was in the Gobi Desert. The pilot wished me luck, waved me goodbye and dropped me off in the middle of nowhere. I set off during the day. It was terribly hot and I went through three tubes of sun cream. But I knew that it would be cold at night so I had also packed warm clothes as well as very light clothes. Dragging my extremely heavy backpack through the amazingly hot Gobi Desert was very, very hard work. It was beginning to get dark and I knew I had to set up camp. So I found a nice little curved rock to set my tent under. My tent was supposed to be waterproof and “very closed up, to keep out the sorts of animals people don’t like” that is what the shop assistant said. Like snakes and scorpions. I settled down to sleep in my tent. I followed the instructions and I was pretty sure that I got it right. But then I thought WHAT AM I DOING? I am a girl in the middle of the desert and I have no guide and no HAIR STRAIGHTENERS! I tried to calm myself down. I took ten deep breaths, in through my nose out through my mouth, in through my nose out through my mouth. After a few minutes of breathing deeply I calmed down and told myself “I am a brave girl” about a forty or fifty times. In the morning I decided to stick to my plan, to head to the other side of the desert. I was still worried, I had only just realised what I was doing, where I was and I wondered, why am I doing this? But I kept on going, dragging a five hundred ton backpack on my back with a one thousand belongings in it. I walked and walked and walked. I walked for what seemed like a billion miles. Finally, it began to get dark. I set up my tent again, got into my sleeping bag and went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night. Something was wriggling around in my sleeping bag. It was long and slender and it felt like... a snake! I panicked, I had done a study of desert animals before I left home and the snakes here have some of the most lethal venom in the world! I got out of my sleeping bag and grabbed the snake by the tail and flicked it outside, I looked at it and realised it was not venomous. I took it outside and went back to sleep. So much for “very closed up” I thought. But as I went to sleep I thought what other challenges would I experience in the desert and who else might be involved? I huddled down for another night. The next day I saw a man riding on a camel, he looked as if he was Mongolian. His name was Batbayar. I had to ask him 10 times how to pronounce it. Batbayar was extremely kind, He lent me one of his camels to ride instead of walking on foot. He offered to come with me as he had a lot more experience than me in the desert. I said he could if he wanted to, so of course he came. Why did I say Batbayar could come if he wanted to? This was supposed to be my achievement… Right? But still, I thought it is a lot safer than going on my own. Thankfully, I discovered that Batbayar was a snake charmer. When I went to sleep I found another long slithering snake. Batbayar got out a Pungi, a basket and then he began to play a song. IMMEDIATELY the snake wriggled into his basket. I was AMAZED, he hadn’t told me he was a snake charmer!!! The next day we were two thirds of the way (why couldn’t it be the WHOLE way?) and I was “soooo” tired. I asked if we could take a break and Batbayar said “ You can take a break if you want but then it will take longer to get to the other side.” “Arrrghhh, I will keep going….” I replied. The next morning I woke up and got on my way when suddenly in the distance I saw massive welcoming party banners, balloons… Everything! I realised it was for me! After seeing this, Batbayar and I double timed on our camels. Great news, Batbayar said that tomorrow we would arrive at the other side! I was “sooo” happy. I knew that in three days I would be home. WE MADE IT! I had arrived and all my family were there, they had prepared a HUGE welcoming party for me. I was so happy but I was also sad because I had to say goodbye to Batbayar. I went up to him to say a last goodbye and he said “promise you will stay in touch?.” We did and after a year of being in contact Batbayar and I are now happily married with our first child on the way. And that’s my tale of the Gobi Desert. Gabdub’s One And Only Adventure! Peak School, JP Ballschmider, Fiction: Group 2

ne winter night the Raja family sat by their fire thinking of what it would be like to be millionaires. Then suddenly a rich looking man shouted and said “I have just booked you tickets for Mongolia and you’re going there tomorrow!” then he dropped 7 tickets. The next day they took a taxi to the international airport. OThere the check-in person said they were going on Mongol airways. When they got on, the plane was really dirty. A couple of hours later the oldest boy Gabdub looked out the window and saw a desert. Soon he noticed that the plane was starting to fly lower. Then suddenly the plane crashed. Gabdub jumped out onto the sand and ran as fast as he could. When he thought he was far enough. He thought: I must be in the Gobi desert. Soon he saw 3 busses drive to the plane crash and it picked everyone up. Since Gabdub was too far away for anyone to see the busses soon left with everyone except him. He waited for a while more than half an hour. Then he saw some strange rocks. The rocks looked like a sign that said: save us, Gabdub said “that’s weird” then a voice said “That’s weird.” Gabdub felt scared and started to run to the odd shaped rock. But after a kilometer or two he became tired and stopped to rest. Shortly afterwards the earth began to sink, Gabdub tried to get out but he couldn’t. Then a man in a black silk coat came by and grabbed Gabdub by the arm and brought him to safety. The man ran off at once and Gabdub was left alone. He ran in the way the man in the black coat had run. It had been a few hours since Gabdub had had some water, he saw what looked like an oasis. He started to run to it but it seemed to diaper into thin air, I must be dreaming he thought. It was starting to get late and in the horizon he could see the big rock that said: SAVE US! He thought it must never rain because it’s a desert here. He went to find shelter anyway, suddenly he tripped over a sharp stone, landing flat on his face! He got up and saw that the sharp stone looked kind of like it could open a door somehow. Slowly he pushed it down and the trap door fell backwards to reveal a staircase. He climbed down slowly to make sure he didn’t fall and heard two men talking. They started talking in very low quiet voices and Gabdub couldn’t hear anything they were saying besides “I found Gabdub and rescued him.” Strangely Gabdub saw a little hole big enough for him and he sat down the seat started to move backwards and Gabdub tried to get out but he had a seat belt that couldn’t be unlocked! To Gabdubs relief it went slowly around the underground tunnel that it was going through. The chair went in all directions besides up and then came to a halt in a small empty room. It had a small bed, an extremely small bedside table and it giant closet. The seatbelt unlocked and Gabdub got out. He went to the closet and saw that it was just another passage. Then in the corner of eye he saw a map, he took it off the shelf and looked at it for a while and soon found where he was. He found he was in the guest room and that the closet led to the chambers main room there were also dungeons, kid’s bedrooms and lots of other rooms. First though he wanted to find the exit, he couldn’t take the way he had taken with the chair because it was still there. But then he saw that in the guest room there might be a passage that might lead out, he felt around the room and soon found a passage that he had to crouch down to get through. He walked through the tunnel for almost an hour and then came out into the sun. He was much closer to the town that had a sigh that said: SAVE US! In fact he was right next to the mountain by the time he had gotten all the way out. He climbed up the side of the mountain and could basically see the whole world. He noticed something strange; it seemed to be black where he guessed the passages probably were! He climbed higher and higher until the sign that said: SAVE US! was right above his head. Gabdub shouted “any one home?” No people replied. He shouted over and over again. Then one of the men of the town about as big as he was came over to him and said “Are you the one who has come to save us, or to hurt us?”Gabdub replied “I have come here to save you” The man explained to Gabdub what the problem was. Gabdub said he’d try to help. He went off to try to find the cause of earthquakes always happening where the villagers lived. He went down a different tunnel from the one he had exited from and saw the man in the black coat again. He waited for him to pass and then made a run for it. He ran all the way to what looked like a control room, and then he saw a switch that was marked earthquake simulator. Gabdub witched the switch to off and ripped the handle off. He ran back the way he came. When he got to the Mongolian village he said he had done it and gave the switch to a random villager. He saw a helicopter and a man in it told him to get in so he did what the man said. When they got to India Gabdub was famous and they got enough money to buy a beautiful house. Race across the Gobi Desert Peak School, Zahra Hui, Fiction: Group

t was a freezing winter day in Mongolia. Lucy Foster and her family had to meet at the station in the town centre at the edge of the Gobi Desert. Mrs. Toki made an announcement. “We will race across the Gobi Desert. Our destination is the visitors centre in 1000 kilometres away. Vehicles are allowed.” There were 25 families Iin the race. Mrs. Foster rented a big Jeep. They brought a tent, 4 sleeping bags, and 20 litres of water, fleeces, big coats, compasses, maps of the Gobi Desert, a notebook and a GPS. A few minutes later, Mrs. Toki made another announcement. “On your marks, get set, GO!” She fired the starting pistol. Everyone rushed out of the door. “Gobi Desert, here I come!” Lucy shouted. She was just thinking of how fun it would be winning the race. She thought she might get a time of being a Nomad. The Jeep was very slow. It wasn’t doing any good. It was a 4-wheel drive. But it is still very hard to drive on sand. The tires weren’t good enough to drive on the sandy ground. At the end of the day, they have only travelled around 400 kilometres. Very early next morning, they set off once again for the race. Today they did well for the first 400 kilometres, and then they slowed down, as the sand dunes grew higher. Sometimes they had to go around a sand dune and sometimes they did not. The Jeep would not go any further when they got to a sand dune, which was a few hundred metres high. When the Jeep tried to drive up the sand dune, it slid back down. “ Oh no!” thought Mr. Foster. “This sand dune is huge!” There is no way you can drive around this giant sand dune. They did not know what to do until Mr. Foster said “We have to leave the Jeep behind. We have to walk.” They packed everything from the Jeep and started walking with their walking sticks. At the beginning, it was all fine the children were happy. But soon they found walking on the sand was not so simple. They had to double the energy they used to walk on the flat paths. Not for long, the chilly winter night of the Gobi Desert has arrived. They set up their tent, and put on their fleeces and big coats. Mr. Foster set a fire and burned some hot stones for everyone, and covered it with thick layers of sand, so that they can sleep on them and keep warm. “The stones are hot and NOT comfortable. I feel like I am lying on the hottest rocks in the world.” Lucy was fidgeting from side to side. Everyone soon fell asleep as they are very tired from walking. The next morning the Foster family packed up and started walking. They caught up to the Ring family. Suddenly, a raging sandstorm struck and blinded their eyes. Their mouths were full of sand. The Foster family puked out the sand. They did not say a word, unless the sandstorm ended. They stopped for 1 hour until the sandstorm was gone. Sam saw 3 families ahead of them. “We are not 1st. We are 4th. We are not in the lead. We must hurry up!” Sam said. Sam ran up to a small sand dune. Sam saw 3 camels. That’s when an idea hit him. “Mum, Dad, Lucy, come!” Sam called his family. Mrs. Foster, Mr. Foster and Lucy went up the sand dune to see what Sam was talking about. “Camels!” Lucy squealed with excitement. They were just about to pat the camel, when a voice scared them. A nomad said something in Chinese. “What did he say?” Asked Mr. Foster who can’t speak Chinese. Lucy translated what the nomad said in Chinese to her mum and dad. Lucy asked the nomad in Chinese, “Can we borrow your three camels?” As the nomad understood that Lucy’s parents could not speak Chinese, he nodded his head. The Foster family took the camels and sorted their bags out. Their bags, tents, and all the other things they have brought to the Gobi Desert were put on the first camel. Lucy sat on the second camel, and Sam sat on the third. Mrs. and Mr. Foster walked. If the camels were tired, the Foster children have to walk. When the camels have rested and could carry the children, Lucy and Sam would ride the camel. There was 100 km left until the visitors centre. They believed that they could walk the last 100 km. They knew they could. So, they did. It was 2 days later when they reached the visitors centre. They had no rest. Mrs. Toki was waiting for the winner of the race. “Well done. You are the first to arrive at the visitors centre.” Mrs. Toki said. It was a fantasy. Lucy’s family had won the race. Mrs. Toki shook hands with Mr. Foster. “You are the…” “Foster family.” Lucy finished. She gave the children a trophy, and the adults a big cheque. Lucy could not believe it. It was a miracle. It was like a dream. She and her family won the race across the Gobi Desert. “Well done Lucy!” Mrs. Foster said. Lost in the Gobi Desert Peak School, Ree Nie Kong, Fiction: Group 2

i, my name is Stanley Dylans, but I would like to be addressed as Sandy. This is a journal of my journey through my adventure in the Gobi Desert. Have you heard of the desert spirit? Well, the desert spirit is a spirit that haunts the Gobi Desert. If it’s hungry, it sucks up souls of any living thing. The desert spirit is the Hmost feared creature in Mongolia. Now, I will tell you a cliff-hanging adventure… I set out to find the desert spirit and see what it was capable of. It was a freezing night : so cold you could probably get frostbite, probably as cold as the North Pole. I lay in my sleeping bag and looked up to the starry night sky. I rolled over trying to get warm and my guides were lying with their eyes open. My socks were pulled up to my knees; my sleeping bag was pulled above my chin. My teeth chattered as an icy wind began to blow… I tried thinking of all the adventures I had: climbing Mount Everest and going around the world. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as I expected; It made me feel like I was half-dead. “We’re ready! Get up and go!” announced the guides. “Why so early?” I whined. “Early? It’s no longer ‘early’.” The guide replied in disbelief. “It’s 10:30! Now get up!” I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag and ate my breakfast. After breakfast, we went further into the desert. There was a magnificent view; the rough sand covered the desert as if it was colossal sheet, sand dunes spread in every direction. A few hours later, we rested ourselves on the sand sipping water. The guides explained that we were going to walk for 20 hours a day. I could barely reach 5 hours a day; 20 hours was too extreme. “We would have 3 hours of sleep and 1 hour for eating.” The guide continued like he didn’t mind. I could not believe the Gobi Desert would be so big until it’ll take 20 hours a day to walk the whole of it. Just then, a dark figure emerged from a huge sand dune and stared at us. “Desert Spirit!” screamed a guide. “ Run for your life!” I tried screaming; but nothing came out of my mouth. My mind went blank. I stayed frozen on the sand. The guides went mad; they kept screaming for me to run but I was a professional at dealing with things like that. I stayed still like there was a bee in front of me. The desert spirit lean towards me. I thought it was going to bite my head off or suck my soul but all it did was sniff me! Then, the spirit said: “ Mmmm… I smell something familiar. Smells like a……….GIORGINA! Oh, you’re another Giorgina. I see.. What is your name?” the desert spirit questioned politely. The guides were amazed. They stared at me, then the desert spirit, then me, then the desert spirit. We seemed to be related. I looked up to the desert spirit. He/she didn’t seem so harmful so I replied: “I’m Evelina Giorgina, what’s your name?” “Oh, me? Well, some people call me Desert Spirit but it would be a pleasure the be addressed as Sandy.” the desert spirit said with a sweet smile. “Um...Okay. Hi Sandy, so, are you going to suck up my soul or...what?” I shuddered “What? No, of course not! I don’t suck up souls. But when I find them, I bury them, not suck them up!” the desert spirit said with a hearty laugh. The desert spirit seemed like a nice creature to me but I still have to convince everyone that the desert spirit is harmless. I also had to find out who caused humans and animals to die in the Gobi Desert. So, I decided to do some research and it looked like the weather in the Gobi Desert is the only thing that could harm living things. I still wasn’t convinced, so I planned to do some traps around the desert. I woke up really early in the morning to check my traps. I found a snow leopards, musk oxes, gobi bears, ibexes, wild horses and gray wolves. The guides looked surprised when they saw me up so early. My guides blinked at the animals. “Um…. Do you think that those animals are the murderer to those living things?” asked the guides. “What? No!” I said. “ The murderer to those living things must suck up the soul and not fight it till it dies. It definitely isn’t those animals.” As we enjoyed our breakfast, I started thinking living in the Gobi Desert wouldn’t be a problem for me. After we finished our breakfast, we set off to find Sandy. We knew Sandy would probably be in a cave or sleeping behind a giant sand dune or ending up in some weird place, so we better get started. We walked further and further, and further and further. The icy wind defeated the scorching sun as we walked. We would never find Sandy. It was almost dusk when finally, one of the guides announced we’ll stop on the huge sand dune for a rest. And now, I’m exhausted in my sleeping bag slowly falling asleep….. In the morning, I found Sandy (the desert spirit) in my traps. I knew Sandy just wanted to visit me. I guess I shouldn’t have set those traps. We had a funeral for him, he needed a large grave so we had to dig. Now, I live in the Gobi Desert feeding on wild animals using my traps, my guides are here too and I live in Sandy’s body( the desert spirit). Nobody had found out who killed living things in the Gobi Desert but that didn’t matter. Not anymore! End of Tape Peak School, Justin Lee, Fiction: Group 2

oshua first noticed the man in black when he was at the fruit section of the supermarket. He continued, into the meats section, and the man in black was still there. Joshua panicked. He walked faster, taking every shortcut he knew and twisted and turned through the winding pathways until he reached the counters. The man in black was right Jbehind him. The man approached and Joshua ran, he ran and ran until he tripped on a loose step and fell down a wide staircase and blacked out. The next thing Joshua knew, he was in a hospital. Beside him, was his father, Constable Wu. “You’ll be alright in a matter of time” he explained, “Doctor Smith will take good care of you.” A man with a beard approached, and explained that he was Doctor Smith. “I hope you’ll one day come to my department, in psychology to see my office and patient-room.” Doctor Smith later chatted to the Constable, talking about his special interest in hypnotism. Joshua sat upright in bed, eating porridge and having warm milk. After a few minutes with the constable, Doctor Smith left and kept a nurse on call near the room, just in case Joshua had any problems. Another nurse brought in some snacks and books for him. Joshua lifted a magazine about Mongolia and gazed at the front cover. Something triggered a feeling in the front cover. He looked at the forlorn temple, the ancient lake and the little trees, and imagined the long-lost explorers that had been there. “Joshua! Joshua!” Joshua awoke from his dream to face reality. Constable Wu was beside him, with the nurse. Outside, the sky was dark. Joshua had fallen asleep. “I have to tell you that when you were asleep, over the last few days, you were muttering and shouting mostly,” Constable Wu explained. “We must bring you to Doctor Smith”, said the Constable. And so they did. As they entered the clinic, Dr.Smith instructed Joshua to lie down on a recliner and be relaxed. Dr.Smith started the hypnotising procedure. Time passed, and when Joshua woke up, it was already dark. “You did very well for a first session”, Dr.Smith said. “Why don’t you take a rest, and we’ll play the tape tomorrow.” The next day, Dr.Smith played the tape: Smith: “Why do you like the photo so much?” Joshua: “The temple with the crescent lake appeared in my travels. I hand-built the temple with my family. Imagine me, famous Ah Li who built the temple by the lake” Smith: “Where is the temple?” Joshua/Ah Li: “It’s in the Gobi desert, of course” Smith: “Tell me more about yourself” Joshua/Ah Li: “ I am Ah Li, a Chinese painter. I am sixty-six this year. I travel with my family.” Smith: “Tell me about your travels.” Joshua/Ah Li: “I was born in the Heilongjiang province, near Harbin. We loved the ice festivals with the tall ice pagodas and the amazing ice sculptures. We loved the Khleb and charcoal smoked red sausages. It warmed us in the extreme temperatures. One morning, father woke us up very early in the morning. “Wake up, Ah Li!”, he bellowed “Go eat some Khleb and then wake up your sister!” I took a small chunk of Khleb and banged my gong. “Mei Mei, wake up now!.” “Yes, Yes” she replied, lazily trudging out of bed. “We’re going to leave here today” father said. He and Ah Wang, the servant had walked out, carrying huge bags. Ah Wang let me hold on to my brush, ink-stone and ink-stick. “Where are we going?” asked sister, her simple remark teeming with inquisitiveness. “We’re going to walk on with the seasons” father said. And so we did. We packed everything extra and sold the house to a merchant. We walked for days, and we stopped at places for rests. There was nearly no water. We lived on bread, and had to cut open cacti and melt ice for water. Suddenly, “Lake Ahoy!” Ah Wang cried out with great joy. We immediately took all we could hold and sprinted forwards towards the lake. It wasn’t an ordinary lake as it had a crescent shape. We lived there for the rest of our lives, planting the seeds that we obtained along our journey. We built two temples with makeshift clay bricks. It was a dull life in the desert. There were almost no travelers “happening to pass by.” In my spare time, I painted and painted in my little study, creating many paintings. I drew the majestic Tian Shan mountains and scenes of the seemingly endless Gobi. I later adopted the art of poems and wrote many poems. I created many “great works” as my father called them. One long, dusty day, a strange traveler came across our pagodas. He was a “barbarian” or an outcast from apparently civilised cities. Over the next few days, we learnt more about him. Apparently, he was a great fencer and was undefeated in martial arts. I was just writing in my study, when the barbarian appeared. “Great poems, I had a talent in these.” What? I thought he was illiterate. He later explained. “I used to be a court scribe for the Emperor. I wrote many poems of various styles, but one day, I offended his Majesty and I was sentenced to death three days after today. Somehow, I was suddenly engulfed in black in my prison cell. The next thing I knew, I was riding a camel with a nomadic tribe. I decided to travel alone, and I came across your temples.” That made much more sense for me. I liked his personality, and we planned to escape away from the desert to see the world and have a more fruitful life, painting and painting in our own hut. So, that night, the barbarian and I dashed hurriedly away, started to climb the wall, when suddenly I fell and fell and fell. … End of tape … How the Gobi Desert Was Created Peak School, Maya Mathur, Fiction: Group 2

long time ago, when only a few humans walked the earth, the earth was mainly water and the gods had only started to make proper land. There were two types of gods at that point, there were the water gods and the land gods. All of the gods had to work together to make land because land needs to have both water and earth so that plants canA grow and living things can survive. One morning, all the earth gods were waiting patiently for Kantef the king of gods to come. All the gods were really excited to know what the meeting was all about. Kantef walked in and surveyed the crowd. Then half talking, half shouting, he said “The water gods have agreed that we need to make more land.” With lots of cheering from the crowd he continued “we shall have to vote to see who will choose where the land will be placed.” The voting would be on the next day. It was a really big thing and all the gods were there watching. In the end Parac the animal god won. A lot of people were disappointed because they had hoped they would win or someone else, but one god was absolutely furious. Kalth was his name, and he was the sand god. He had been hoping that he would be the one to choose where the land would be. Feeling hatred towards all the other gods, he ran away. He didn’t realize that this same problem had happened to Tarj a water god. A few hours later all the other gods realized that Kalth and Tarj had run away, so they started to look for them. After a while Aseeth the plant goddess and Sech the goddess of seasons found both of them floating on a cloud over parts of Mongolia and China. Tarj was towards the back, making sure that the water in the cloud would not fall, which would send them plummeting into the water. Kalth was towards the front. He had a look of concentration on his face. Sech had beckoned everyone over, so that they could see what Kalth was doing with that look of concentration on his face. Then suddenly Kantef realized what Kalth was planning to do. He ordered Sech, Aseeth and Parac to go down to stop him. By the time the three of them had reached down there, Kalth had already finished. At that point, Kalth realized that he had made a huge mistake. He and all the other gods tried to fix the sand problem but they just couldn’t. All that water had turned into sand. As they watched the five of them float back up Kantef was already thinking of a punishment for both of them. Kalth’s punishment was that he had to make another sixty-one of those deserts which is why the Earth has sixty one deserts. Tarj’s punishment was that he had convert all his powers into plants and animals, and those plants and animals went to all the deserts of the world. The Mongolians were the first to come and live there, and in Mongolian Gobi means desert. That is the story of how the Gobi Desert was created. Shortlisted

Three Brothers and I Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Kylie Chong, 11

am the Gobi Desert. Swelteringly hot. Unforgiving. Temperamental. Lethal. Many have tried to conquer me, to walk into my depths and emerge, alive. Not many have succeeded. The ones, the unworthy, who failed, who did not persevere, sleep in my hands for all eternity. I have seen many, a mere inch from survival, collapse from exhaustion, and so I claimed Itheir lives, as I had many more. Few can escape the wrath of the Gobi Desert, for I have been since the start of time, and will be until the end. I am ever-changing. I can go from calm and sunny to a tantrum, what you humans call sandstorms, in mere seconds. Cross me, and pay the price. Today, mister wind came and blew through. He brought news of three brothers, whom had vowed to conquer me, at the cost of their lives. Pah! As if I have never heard these proclamations before, as if I have not claimed every life, every person that challenges me. But we shall see. Yes, we shall see. The first brother came, with a camel, riding over my palm. I saw he had not brought any water, and smiled to myself secretly, amused at his foolishness. I heard him boasting to his brothers: “I am confident that I will not need any water, and I will be back before ten days.” “I await your good news, good brother.” “Do you fear not of perishing from lack of thirst?” asked the youngest brother. Well said, I thought. But no amount of water can help you in the desert. The older brother laughed and said: “No problem, my dear brother. I am sure that all will be well.” Well, really! Who does this man think he is? A single tantrum of mine could finish him off, as easily as I did all the others. But now is not the time. I will bide my time, and strike when the time is ripe, and not before that. In the morn, I looked up and saw Apollo driving his chariot above me. I do not keep track of time, save morn and night. I looked down and saw the first brother walking along my arm at a snail like pace. The camel was gone, eaten by the brother. He was weak from thirst and fatigue. I admit it, I am cruel. I could not resist from showing him what he wanted most: Water and food. I called on Apollo, my friend, to make a mirage of an oasis. The brother, with renewed hope, staggered toward the shimmering mirage, only to fall back in defeat as he saw that it was nothing but a mere illusion. Too weak to carry on, he crumpled on the desert floor, faint and desperate. He was exhausted from walking in the desert heat and had sunstroke. Too tired to do anything, all the fight went out of him at once. He simply lost the will to live and it was easy to finish him off. And so, I took the first brother for my own. The first brother was soon followed by the second brother. He was slightly smarter and brought a water truck and a lorry full of food in strange shiny cans. At dusk, when it was cooler, he set out. At night, he slept inside some kind of triangular contraption that protected him, no matter how many fits I had and how many sandstorms I threw at him. It seemed that he was certainly well prepared. He’d learned from his brother all right. But I’ll find a way, as I always do. In the early morning, I looked down and found that I, again, had not much to do to dispose of the second brother. It seems that, smart as he was, he had forgotten one vital thing: fuel. His trucks had run out of fuel and he was faced with a problem: Should he stay here, with his food and water, or should he carry on? He chose foolishly to carry on. Had he chosen to stay, he might still be living. As it was, the second brother soon ran out of food and water and starved to death in a mere three days. And so, I took the second brother for my own. The third brother came. I would have thought that he would have been too scared to come after the failures of his brothers, but it seems that I was mistaken. He came, with a backpack full of supplies and sunscreen, as well as another of those triangular contraptions I so deeply detest. He shouted: “I am not afraid of you! I shall conquer you, and finish what my brothers started, or else die trying! Bring it on, oh mighty desert!” I at once took a liking to this brother. He has the correct attitude. Not many people dare to talk to me like this. The third brother is certainly resourceful. He knows how to make use of the little resources I provide, and that is a good start. When he ran out of water, I thought that he, like his brothers before him, would despair and die. Alas, that did not happen. He walked up to a cactus, and started collecting water from its inside. Many others have been too intimidated by the sharp, prickly thorns protecting the cactus to get its water, thus paying for it with their lives. Good thinking, I think. Good thinking. I find with surprise that I have begun to take a liking to this man. I have decided. I will bow down to this conqueror. Just this once, I tell myself. Just this once, I will be conquered; I will let this man go. A man of his talent and smarts is not to be wasted. He will do good to this world. I know it. Today at dusk, the youngest brother finally arrived at the end, where a throng of people had gathered to await his return. Ignoring them, he shouted to the heavens: “My brothers, I have finished what you set out to do. I honor your memory forever!” And so, he set of toward the setting sun, pushing through the crowd. He didn’t look back. And that, my friends, that is the new tale of the Gobi Desert, the tale of the three brothers and I. The New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Choi Kai Yau School, Marco Hui, Fiction: Group 2

The Chronicles of the Beasts (The Defeat of Rashouk the Sand Demon)

Sam held his magical shield and spear, guarding over his own spirit bear. His bear was called Lightning. Sam rode around the camp with Will, his faithful companion who rode on Storm, the black shadow horse. They shot arrows at a wooden board target. Suddenly, Will faded from the campsite and appeared at a desert, with miles and miles of yellow sand. Equntis, the good wizard of Toqurs, appeared with his ice staff. Equntis whispered something in Will’s ear and vanished. When Will rode back to join Sam, he was very pale. Sam knew at once that something bad had happened. Will said, “Equntis mentioned that we need to beat Rashouk, the sand demon. He lives in the Gobi Desert.” Sam was frightened, he had also heard about the stories of Rashouk, but he exclaimed, “When there is life in my body, I will save Toqurs! Let’s smash this crazed monster into pulp!” Far away towards the west of the Gobi Desert, a knight from the city of Tako was galloping to warn his king that Rashouk would be coming. Suddenly, his horse skidded to a stop and neighed loudly. Then a wave of moving vines formed a circle around the knight, and moved closely. A vine shot out and curled around the knight, it quickly dragged him down into the ground. A new enemy had come. Sam and Will rode purposefully towards the west of the Gobi Desert. Sam spotted a twin road not far from them. He called out seriously, “Map!” and a floating piece of paper appeared in front of him. Sam spotted out the monster that was at Tako city. He also figured out the quickest route to the city was the left path, because his horse could smell fear and danger. Will and Sam rode bravely to the west while the monster Rashouk rampaged through the Tako City. Rashouk swept away tall buildings and gobbled up innocent people. Everybody was panicking. Suddenly, a very loud screech sounded and bounced off the walls, echoing towards the monster. Rashouk screamed and clasped his ears in pain, because he hated this screeching sound, and slithered away immediately. When the coast was clear, they galloped towards the dangerous beast of the Gobi. “I will save Tako City and defeat the beast!” shouted Sam bravely. Will took out his trident while Sam unsheathed his sword. When Rashouk saw them, he stopped fleeing and picked up some rocks. Sam dodged the rocks just in time as they sailed towards him. Suddenly, the screeching sound came again and Rashouk fled away. At that time, Sam found Rashouk’s weakness. It was all about the sound, they thought. Rashouk went back to his cave but a shout woke him up. It was Sam and Will! They had followed him! Rashouk slowly slithered out. Sam saw him and quickly pulled out his sword, then slid it on some rocks. Screech! Rashouk tried to flee, but he met Will, who produced the same sound. Screech! Rashouk screamed and kept running in and out. Finally, Rashouk exploded and slime flew everywhere. Sam was covered with disgusting green slime but he was victorious and happy. “Woo! Hoo! We defeated Rashouk!” Sam and Will cleaned themselves and returned to Toqurs for a Hero’s welcome. The Trip Through the Gobi Desert PLK Choi Kai Yau School, Rachel Law, Fiction: Group 2

Hi! I’m Annabeth. Do you know about the Gobi Desert in Mongolia? Well, all thanks to my scholarship, I was able to afford a trip to Mongolia with my best friend, Sienna, so I know about the desert. Well, people usually hate deserts, since they are all hot and dry. But after reading about my travels, you might change your mind. It all started when I won a scholarship at school. The prize was $1,000. I wanted to scream. Compared to my usual a dollar a day allowance, this was freaky. It was so much! Since my parents were away, I decided to invite my loyal best friend, Sienna, to a trip to Mongolia. The trip in the airplane was so long! But we didn’t mind. We chatted the whole time. School, Family, Classes… we never got nagged by the annoyance of the trip. Anyway, annoyance isn’t really exactly my vocabulary. As we landed in a Mongolia airport, we didn’t mind about sleeping jet lag or anything else. We just checked out and dragged our luggage away. We caught a taxi and the cabbie brought us to the start of the Gobi Desert’s route. We had to walk from the east to the west. Sienna was jumpy and enthusiastic the whole time, since she loves all kinds of adventure and action. We started by running, but it turned into jogging and finally walking. It was about 35 degrees! Other explorers were also walking in the desert. Compared to us, their pace was like supersonic speed! In a short time, they had already disappeared behind the tall sand dunes. “Tell me about it!” Sienna kept on laughing, “I’ve walked a tightrope across the Niagara Falls, survived a jog through a forest and discovered an amazing gem, but none as exciting as this!” Boy, was I thrilled to hear that! We were so psyched that we stared running like a wild snowshoe hares. Sienna jumped like a frog. I kept running out of water to drink. Unfortunately, deserts sometimes have lakes filled with fresh water, but then Gobi didn’t. Sienna gave me a cheap store-bought bottled water, but I lapped down a lot of the cool water in no time. Ah, refreshing! It was time for an excellent drink. Water isn’t my favourite drink, but it is tops for desert trips. 3 hours later, we set up our tent in a pretty find place under a sand dune. We started at the glistening stars, then fell asleep like an alive gargoyle.

THE NEXT DAY

Sienna and I woke up at dawn, and continued our journey. We stopped by a strange care and went in to investigate. We found a big surprise, Priceless jewels, rare fossils and amazing carvings stood before our eyes. We stuffed everything in our bags and went to the end of the desert. When we returned back to our home, we donated our treasures to the museum and spilled our journey to them. We became local celebrities. Paparazzi snuck on us every day, and we were invited to celebrity meets. Readers, believe in your dreams, and one day they will come true! New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Choi Kai Yau School, Stephanie Lo, Fiction: Group 2

Dear Humans,

I am a very old cashmere goat. I live with my master who has been a Mongolian herdsman for a long time. I am writing to express my sincere appreciation to my master who is a tough and tenacious guy. His boldness and perseverance indeed deserve to be praised. However, in my heart, I am really worried about him. Now, my feelings are extremely mixed and complicated. First of all, can you guess where I live? I will give you the following hints. First, the region that I live in is very vast. It covers 1.3 million square kilometers and stretches across Northern China and Mongolia. Second, my place is noticeably dry because rain clouds are blocked by the nearby Himalayan mountain range. There is usually less than 8 inches of rain each year on average. Third, my place was once very famous and significant in the world history as it was part of the great Mongol Empire and the Silk Road. It has also captured the world’s attention for its fossil treasures even including dinosaur eggs. “Oh! Have you got the answer yet? ” “Bingo!” “Yes, I live in the Gobi Desert with a nomadic family.” In my heart, I do absolutely appreciate my master. In fact, it is never easy to survive and make a living here. Unlike the other deserts, the Gobi Desert is a cold desert with a terribly great daily range of temperature. Dust storms often occur especially in March. However, despite the harsh and extreme circumstances, my master and his family still show their strong determination and persistence and make every attempt to adapt to the difficult situations. In fact, not only does my master, the animals and vegetation in the Gobi all actually show their strong will of survival. Plants here have different means of adapting themselves to climatic extremes. Their unique features such as long, widespread roots, small needle-shaped leaves and waxy surfaces all help them keep water and minimize water evaporation. I am over the moon whenever I can see the saxaul trees, saltwort and wild onions that grow natively. They indeed fascinate me. I pay extraordinary respect to the saxaul trees that play a particularly crucial part in the ecosystem since they can provide water to animals and can be used as fuel by nomads. A lot of my friends also graze on them. Furthermore, in spite of the extreme and arid conditions, it is not surprising to find more than 45 different species of animals and birds here. Black-tailed gazelles, Bactrian camels, marbled polecats are all my dear friends. However, we all should be wary of scorpions since they always turn up unexpectedly and their stings can be fatal and venomous. However, to my great disappointment, for the past ten years, it seems to me that the peace and harmony in Gobi has been vanishing bit by bit. Recently, I have seldom seen a smile on my master’s face. Two days ago, I even heard him weep in the middle of the night. He looks increasingly distressed and worried as days go by. That really makes me feel worried. Frankly speaking, our living conditions here have been deteriorating over the past ten years. The frequency of dust storms has increased significantly. It has been more and more difficult for us to find water sources and oases. That is why we need to move more often from one place to another in order to search for water and vegetation for grazing. These all are the horrendous detrimental consequences caused by “desertification.” I feel exhausted and unsettled with it. Overgrazing, deforestation, mining and all kinds of human exploitative activities resulted in the expansion of the Gobi. Humans name this process as “desertification.” However, humans are now paying a huge price for the dreadful and woeful desertification caused by them. Humans, would you please stop carrying out all sorts of exploitative and harmful activities upon our habitat or you might regret later. Please help restore the balance and harmony in the Gobi. Now I feel so devastated that I really cannot stop myself voicing these grievances. Please kindly listen to what I have shared. It is urgent and necessary for you to plant more trees on the edges of the desert so as to slow down the rate of desertification. Every day, I pray for the Gobi and my master. I am looking forward to seeing a healthy ecosystem in the Gobi Desert again. Regards, (A Hopeless Goat) Mission to the Gobi Desert PLK Choi Kai Yau School, Justin Yuen, Fiction: Group 2

Introduction

For a long time, the Gobi Desert was mysterious and unexplored. People often went in and never got out. Police officers all over the world wanted to know why, so they sent in two experienced explorers, Henry and Tom, to do an investigation. Immediately they were summoned to an office to be briefed about the mission. The officer said, “This is a mission of the utmost importance. You shall venture into the desert, to find and retrieve the missing people in there; hopefully without getting lost yourself! Try to map out the region carefully, but it would help if you can stay alive and report back to us afterwards.” This is how their adventure started.

The Capture

Henry and Tom were equipped with a slew of equipment in two loaded backpacks: Swiss army knives, tents, searchlights, food, medicine, matches, a compass, some flares and a star chart. Right around noon on day 3, Henry felt that his leg was being pulled downwards quickly into the sand. Tom reached out to pull him back, thinking that Henry had fallen into quicksand but he started sinking also. In a few seconds both had sunk to their waist and going down fast. Tom tried to grab a nearby cactus, hands aching from the spikes, but the cactus merely got pull along also. Suddenly, Henry felt his feet were no longer in sand anymore. Henry could sense that there was something alive and moving beneath them. By now his head is almost buried and he was struggling to catch his breath. In one last ditch effort, Henry and Tom pulled out their knives and started stabbing all around themselves, but the pulling simply paused for a while and continued. They were now sucking in sand, and they looked upward to draw one last breath, and tried not to imagine what might happen to them as they fell … into the jaws of a giant sandworm.

Brain Scans

“Ouch!” Henry yelled as he landed on a cold stone floor of a large, cold cavern, being regurgitated out with their sandy bath by the sandworm. “Where are we?” Suddenly, more lights turned on and they saw a large amount of machinery and pipes. A creature slid slowly in through a dark entrance. It was twice as tall as Henry but looked like a grey octopus with only 3 tentacles. On the sides of its head are five eyes looking out for each direction: top, front, back, left, right. Tom and Henry’s hands were bound together and then were moved to a dimly lighted area with two beds. They were fastened to the beds by mechanical handcuffs and were put to sleep with a strange puff of odor. Next the aliens placed different kinds of wiring and electrodes on their heads and started brain scanning. About an hour into the session, Tom had a torturous nightmare in which he was pressed against a cliff wall while being chopped into pieces by the aliens. He started to struggle violently on the bed and screamed out deafening cries. Suddenly, all the lights turned on at once but went out immediately as the aliens computers next to the bed started to smoke. Tom and Henry’s mechanical handcuffs opened automatically and luckily they were both wide awake by now. The alien moved over to fix the computer when the explorers snatched their backpacks on the ground and lit the flares. Blinded by the bright glare, the alien could only cover its eyes. Tom and Henry ran quickly out of the place.

Discovery

In a few minutes they found themselves racing along the edge of a cliff, below which is a vast canyon whose edge is unclear. Down below, legions of sandworms lined up in troop formations, each commanded by an alien in full armor. Henry and Tom figured there must be millions of these in the valley, and appeared to be amassing for some sort of attack. Henry and Tom’s jaws both dropped open, and Henry whispered,” I think they’re heading for China.”, and Tom whispered back, “They got more than enough for that! But we need to get away quick, I think” Just then, they heard some loud noises from the room that they had just escaped from, and they started running again.

Narrow Escape

They ran into a tunnel which ends in a junction with many entrances in all directions. For what seems to be a very long hesitation, they cannot decide which way to go. When their breathing slowed a little, they started to hear a low snoring noise in one of the entrances. They crawled inside and found in the dim light a sleeping sandworm the size of a three-story tall tunnel boring machine. They tiptoed towards the worm’s tail end, hoping to find a way out, very much afraid that they would wake up the monster. Luckily though, they found an upward tunnel behind it in which light can be seen coming through. As quiet as mice, they climbed up and eventually got back to the desert and ran until they collapsed in exhaustion.

Aftermath

By the time Henry and Tom reported back to the officer they have also recovered a memory chip that they pulled off the computer in the cavern during their escape. After a year of research, code breakers deciphered the information inside the chip and found out that the aliens had already discovered antimatter, and were using it to design a new type of antimatter bomb. Perhaps the plan was to use this and the sandworm army to take over the world. Aside from this they also found coordinates to a star which Chinese scientists have reported to disappear more than a thousand years ago. So they suspected that the aliens may have abandoned this star long time ago and ended up on earth to make it their new home. Whatever the case maybe, the police now have a much bigger crisis to worry about than missing persons… Gobi City Tour PLK Fong Wong Kam Chuen Primary School, Bosco Chan, Fiction: Group 2

ello! My name is Bigo, I’m now 88 years old. I was a tour guide when I was young. The places where I had visited were all very exciting. I always wanted to introduce some good and interesting places to my friends. The most amazing place was Gobi City, but I don’t know how to describe because it was unbelievable and I’m not sure if you all Hbelieve my experience. I know that I had a good time there. And I will never forget. Bigo closed his eyes gently and started flashing back his memories. He started sharing his stories with his grandchildren. “Today, I will bring all of you to visit a strange place, Gobi City at the Gobi Desert. I will be your tour guide.” Bigo spoke loudly to the tourists. Then, he asked the lady, “Did you know that the Gobi Desert was a city in ten billion years ago? If you want to know more about this amazing place, don’t hesitate to join my tour and I think you would love my tour. You might ask your friend to join as well. You would know more why the Gobi had turned to be a desert.” Then, a lot of people signed their names to join the tour and followed Bigo excitedly. Bigo said to the tourists, “Now, we need to walk into a magical door. Then, we will arrive at the Gobi City. Let’s go in!” The Gobi City was very beautiful and big, there were many people living in this city, it was a very good place. In front of the city, there was a very big lake, many animals would go and drink water there. And there were lots of Gobi bears, desert tarantulas, gray wolves and some dinosaurs. Near the lake, some dinosaur eggs would be found. Bigo explained to the tourists, “I believe that those dinosaur eggs are the type of herbivore dinosaurs. If you want to touch them or take photos with the dinosaurs, you need to be careful.” The animals in the Gobi would not hurt anyone, but you never make them angry or disturb them. After having a very close approach with animals, Bigo and his group of tourists entered into the city. The market was quite big. And the food was very fresh. Everyone was happy to visit this amazing city and they would like to try the food in the Gobi City during these three days trip. Bigo said, “At night, I would arrange you all to sleep in the yurts. It’s an interesting experience for you all to try to sleep in these special beds.” The following day was a nice day and Bigo took his tourists to visit a beautiful cave. There were ten gold fish, which were actually genies, they would make the Gobi City look beautifully. They would make the Gobi having big hills, beautiful forests and so on, the genies made all these by using their strange power quietly. They wanted to keep the city in a good shape. Bigo told the tourists that the genies liked nice people and a lot of believers would visit them or even give them some gifts as like as fresh bread to feed them. Then, the genies would bless them in hearts. Bigo decided to set up some yurts near the cave, so the tourists would be able to sleep next to the genies, at the same time, they could watch the beautiful sky. The sky in the Gobi City was always fantastic and the tourists enjoyed looking at the galaxy of stars together. Suddenly, there were a gang of strong men caught Bigo and his tourists and they all were tied by those strong men because they wanted them to see the Gobi City which would become a desert. Then Bigo said, “They are going to kill the genies. After they kill the genies, the Gobi City will become a desert forever.” Suddenly, the genies shouted sadly, “Today is the day that Gobi City will be disappeared. We can’t change the history. We can’t change the future. The future book told us long ago that it would be a gang of strong man came to destroy us and make the desert appear immediately. You all have to leave this place.” Shortly, those strong men killed the gold fish one by one and ran away from the cave. The city started to shake and a lot people screamed loudly. Then, Bigo used his small knife to cut the rope off. After he helped all the tourists, all of them saw the moon turn to be red, they were all frightened. Luckily, a lot of cops came to rescue them and the gang of strong men was just trapped in the floating sand when the sand fell. Finally, Bigo and his tourists were home safely and happily. Bigo asked his grandchildren if they believed his story. The little children nodded their heads and gave a big hug to their grandfather. The Phantom of the Gobi Desert PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Nick Choi, Fiction: Group 2

nspector Tony was a top officer in the police force, and rumors say that there is no case that he couldn’t crack. But now with talk of a shadowy figure seen in the Gobi Desert, fellow colleagues of Inspector Tony can say: “He’s practically pulling out his hair just trying to find out what the shadowy figure really is.” The police force had sent Inspector Tony on this case Itwo months ago and the Inspector had been so busy he forgot his birthday a week ago. He had gone from the Gobi Desert back and forth for like an eternity and he hadn’t had even one, tiny, important clue. Some people say it was a mirage. Some people say it is Herobrine (From Minecraft, the game) come to life. Some people say it is a ghost. Some people say it is just someone playing a prank on everyone. On his like a hundredth time to the Gobi Desert, Michal, the Chief of Police, sent a message to Tony. The message was brief and short. It said: “Figure might appear tonight. Organize stakeout.” You might figure Tony might not be able to handle this “figure” on his own, but he has some companions. Robots, to be exact. Tony was a genius (Not the straight “A” genius, but a robotic genius) and he had lots of different gadgets to help him out on different cases. This time he had bought with him three gadgets, including the laser hand, a robotic hand that can shoot lasers and also has a built-in communicator; the Matrix Robotic Wrist-watch, (Also called the MRW) a computer/wrist-watch with multiple functions; and the laser blade, generated using a liquid laser beam and focusing it into a deadly blade. During the night, Inspector Tony camped out near the spot where people saw the mysterious figure during the night. He waited for like three hours, then he heard something like a TNT being ignited. Then he heard a hisssss…………BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TNTs blew up every around Tony. In order to survive, he activated his rocket/boots and flew up into the sky. As he was flying, he heard the familiar sound of evil laughter. When the Chief heard of his failure, he was VERY disappointed. “Now we might need to wait for months until the figure will come out again!!!!!” he said to Tony through Skype. “Maybe not,” said Tony. “I have a hunch that he might come out again tomorrow.” So he camped out in the Gobi Desert again, but this time he was well camouflaged. If you’re not trying to spot him on purpose, you might never notice him. This time, Tony saw the figure. It had glowing white eyes, it moved like a ghost, and it looked very scary. Tony took a picture of it using the MRW and then fired a shot at is using the laser hand. The figure looked in Tony’s direction, but apparently it couldn’t see Tony so it turned away. Tony fired another shot at it and now the figure looked all around and still couldn’t see Tony. By the look on the figure’s face, it looked partially annoyed and turned away. Then Tony spotted a pyramid. “It must be where the figure lives.” Tony thought. Camouflaged by his camouflage clothing, he snuck up to the figure and tackled him like a rugby player. The figure stumbled down, clearly taken by surprise from Tony’s attack. He fell down to the ground head first and he blacked out immediately. Tony removed the mask covering the figure’s face and was astonished to find a teenager. When he got back, everyone congratulated Tony. “How did you defeat something that you didn’t know what it was?” “The element of surprise was in my favor,” said Tony. “Also, he didn’t seem like the athletic type, so I rugby tackled him down.” Tony made the front page again and he was a celebrity. After some questioning, Tony found the teen’s name was Mark and his story. “It all started right at my school,” Mark began. “My friends and I were hanging out on the playground during break as usual, when this all started. One of my friends came up and said ‘Hey Mark, I bet you won’t have enough guts to go to the Gobi Desert alone and pretend to be a ghost!’ Then I got mad and that’s what I did. Then you came along and then…… Well, you know what happened.” The police charged him a fine of $5000 and he had to stay in jail for 2 months. New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Ho Yin Lam, Fiction: Group 2

The Christmas Present

Hi everyone, my name is Amber, and I live here in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong with my parents and my elder brother, Ian. He’s a horrible person who always play pranks on me.

*** It was Christmas night. Amber’s granny had gone to her home to celebrate Christmas and Amber’s birthday. Amber loved Christmas, it was not only a festival, but also her birthday. As always, Amber and Ian sat in the living room, watching TV. Granny called” Time for the presents, darlings.” She gave Ian a new game, Amber was jealous, she rolled her eyes at granny “ Granny oh granny, you said you would give me a special Christmas gift!”” Yes, my dear Amber, come with me.” Granny brought Amber to the guest room where she put her bag inside. She took a little purple silk bag out of her handbag. She gave it to Amber and said “This is a very precious gift, do not lose it and never let others see it, it is a gift my granny gave me, she found it in the Gobi Desert when she was young, and now I pass it to you, hold it in your palm tonight when you sleep, it will lead you to a place...” And she turned and left the room, leaving Amber alone. “Night night, Amber. Have a nice Christmas dream with your granny’s present, I hope you like it, although I’m not sure about what granny gave you, keep it nice.” “ Yes, I know, night night, mama.” Amber replied. Mama tucked Amber in, kissed her forehead, and left the room, closing the door behind her. Amber opened the bag granny gave her and took something out. It was a ruby. She remembered what granny said, she put it in her palm, and she drifted to sleep. As she fell asleep, the ruby started to shake in her palm... “Ouch!” Amber cried, her bottom hit the ground. Where was she? She was standing on top of a piece of land filled with sand, it was a desert! She looked down at her palm, the ruby was still in its place. She was scared, she walked in one direction, she didn’t know where she was walking to, she just kept walking and walking... Just then, she saw a camel walking straight towards her, it told her to ride on it. Strangely , Amber understood what the camel was talking about, she rode and slept on the camel’s back. When she woke up, she was in a cave, sleeping on the ground. A camel was standing around her, it was the camel who had brought her here, it said” You are now in the Gobi Desert. I belong to the family of Bactrian camels, we Bactrian camels have lived here for many years.” But what am I here for, actually?” Amber asked. The camel replied” We are endangered animals, every 30 years, a person with the ruby you are holding will be sent here by the ruby, which is magical, and one of us will meet that person, we will pray to the ruby to send that person back to his or her real life. And he or she will find a way to rescue us...”And it started praying, the ruby began to glow... Amber opened her eyes, she was on her bed. She sat up straight, she was holding the ruby in her palm. She wasn’t sure about what she had just did, was it a dream? Or was it a real adventure? No one knows. The time was still the same as the time she left, she sat in front of the computer and went to Google, she typed... The New Tale of Gobi Desert PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Jackson Lai, Fiction: Group 2

hen humans were born, most humans were living at the jungle, forest or grassland. Only a few of them were born on the only desert, which was called Gobi Desert. They lived at the western part of the desert, these people called themselves “The Lamp Group”, which meant they were the only humans in this desertW (they thought).These people live at the these people only have a few kinds of animals, which is horses, camels and cattle. They had all the supply they need, and of course, they had families. One day, a baby was born, his name was called Luke.

The girl

At Luke’s tenth birthday, a girl from outer desert came! The witch of the Lamp Group let her to live in her camp, she hold her hand and predicted” She is from faraway, she was attacked by many bad people, the bad people will come to us, and the boy who marry this girl will save us!” Then, the girl spoke” My name is Rose. Those bad people are the Spooky, they steal things and grab people to be slave for them!” Everyone in the group were terrified, they were all chatting about this thing, thinking what will happen to them when the Spooky come to them. After five years, Luke became a strong and handsome teenager and Rose became a beautiful and elegant woman. They were in love with each other, but every man had to face a challenge in order to marry Rose, so Luke also had to face the challenge.

The Challenge

The challenge was to kill a giant scorpion! There were also many other men who love Rose, so Luke had a hard chance to win. On the day for the challenge, there were many men and all were only for one target, Rose! When they arrived at the giant scorpion’s nest, the giant scorpion popped out from the sand and killed 10 men! When Luke faced to the giant scorpion, he was so terrified, so he got two spears and throw to the giant scorpion, in the meantime, the giant scorpion hit him and knock him out! But Luke never realized that actually his spears went straight in the giant scorpion’s eyes and killed it! After a week, Luke and Rose got married.

The Spooky

But good days were short, after a while, the Spooky came! The Spooky had black skins, long hairs and short size. They destroyed the Lamp Group’s town and grab all people to be their slaves, only a few of them left, because they hid in a place where the Spooky couldn’t find them, and Luke and Rax were some of them. But Rose was caught by the Spooky, so Luke decided to save her. When he wanted to found an army to save Rose, nobody wanted to help him! When Luke was about to go save Rose, the witch, who was also hiding said “Rose gave me the map to tell the destination of the Spooky, you shall save all the slaves and become their king! This riddle will help you to go across an area where no one had pass.” To enter the area, you need brave hearts and soul. After you enter, you shall become hopeless. But if you still have hope, you will have signs from gods. The sign of the eye shall take you out from the area alive by the noon of day.” Then, she died. The remaining people buried her humbly and sadly, and then Luke, Max and Hak went to save Rose.

The journey begins

The map told them to go across the Gobi Desert as the Spooky lived in the eastern part of the desert! The Gobi Desert was 1,295,000 km2 large, so it is very hard to get past it. When they were travelling across the Gobi Desert, they found out that they were not the only human in the desert. They met many friends during this journey, they found out that many people were also grab by the Spooky and become their slaves, so they wanted make an army with other people instead with their people. They had two thousand soldiers in their army! First, they had to face a hard challenge. It was to travel across another area which nobody had passed through except the Spooky! Suddenly, Luke remembered about the riddle that the witch said, so he told the soldiers about this and they began to have hope! Then, a soldier repeated that he saw the sun looked like an eye! Luke thought “It was the sign of god!” He was very excited. The army followed the sun for about three hours, and they went out from the area at the noon of the day! It was the same thing that happened as what the witch said!!! Then, they saw thousands and thousands of people pulling huge stones on a palace, and killing them on the palace! The army also saw the Spooky using rough ropes and hit the elephants to help them to pull the heavy stones on the palace too! The army was furious about what the Spooky did to their people and animals, so they swore that they must punish and kill them all. At night, Luke and four other soldiers sneaked into the cabin where the slaves lived. Luke told the slaves about their plan to save them. When the slaves heard about this, they were so happy that they nearly cheered. Then he left with his four soldiers. The next morning, the war began! The plan was that the slaves would stop the people who hit the elephants to hit them, so the elephants will be furious and kick them to death! And the plan worked! Then, Luke found the leader of the Spooky and killed him. After a while, the Spooky were all dead. The army cheered and Luke became the king and Rose became the queen and they lived happily ever after! A New Tale Of Gobi Desert PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Noddy Lam, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, 2 men saw a treasure map which was left by their father in their house. The map shown that the treasure box was in Gobi Desert, which was in Mongolia. The treasure box was located in an ancient tomb in the desert. When they saw that, they thought that they needed to get the treasure. OSo the next day, they immediately packed the supplies that they needed in order to survive in the hot, boiling desert. They rode on a plane and travelled to Mongolia. Then, they followed the instructions and the pictures on the old, yellowish map to the ancient tomb in the desert. When they saw the tomb, they were scared, because the map said: “There is only one way to the treasure box, other wise you are going to heaven or hell…” Therefore, the men went in a hallway full of bats and spider webs together, they hoped that they didn’t go in the wrong way. They walked and walked and walked, the hallway got darker and darker and darker. The men took out the flashlights, and turn it on, so that they could see clearly and they could be calmer. They saw the end of the hallway, and there was a passcode lock. They looked at the map, and there was a clue for the passcode: “The passcode are numbers from 0-9. And it includes 6 of them. That’s all I can provide you…” The men tried and tried and tried… Tried and tried and tried… Finally, they unlocked the lock, a stone door opened. They saw the chest, and they were delighted! However, it needed a key to unlock it. So they flashed to the map, it said: “The key is in the chest, haha… If you really believe this, you are really stupid!” The men not only was disappointed, but also was angry with their father, they swore that they will not believe this kind of things anymore. Legends of the Gobi PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Crystal Lo, Fiction: Group 2

was almost frozen in the freezing wind. I was starving, with no shelter and no connection to the modern world. I was stuck in the middle of Asia’s Largest Desert-The Gobi Desert. On October first, the World-wide Nature Fossil Fund sent me and my exploration team on a search for the fossils of an ostrich-like dinosaur. This rare type of dinosaur was not Ifound anywhere, but rumor has it that there were fossils of it in the Gobi Desert.We were provided helicopters, camels, food and supplies we would need. We prepared ourselves for the quest and hoped that we could really bring back information for scientific researches. The helicopter was getting close to the desert. Below us were unlimited land filled with sand and rock. I tried to imagine that millions of years ago,dinosaurs roamed there.How terrifying it would be if a dinosaur was down there that moment. I shuddered at the thought and focused on how to find the fossils We set foot on the path to find fossils. I took out my Fossil Finder-an electronic machine which can detect fossils underground. After one day of nonstop walking,we set up our tents and rested Though I was very tired,I couldn’t fall asleep.I was certain that something was troubling me. The next day,some locals took us on camels.It was much better than walking.All we saw were sand,rocks and the bright sun.The Fossil Finder was hung by the camel’s tail and it didn’t ring even once.I felt a bit down,as we haven’t discovered anything yet.I stared at the horizon and was day-dreaming when my camel suddenly went nuts and ran away from the rest of the group! I scream,“Help!” My team tried to reach me but the camel was too fast.Soon,I lost sight of my team. I was desperate , nervous, scared and any adjectives you can think of. Should I settle down? Find my team? Kill the camel? I have no idea. The camel was starting to get tired and soon it laid down. I looked at the supplies I had:A bottle of water and three energy bars ,plus the clothes I was wearing. I thought that was better than nothing. I have watched plenty of desert surviving videos, but none of them came into my mind.I just sat next to the camel and did nothing. Finally, I fell asleep under the starry night of the Gobi Desert. The next morning, I woke up with an empty stomach and a thirsty throat. How I wished I was with my crew, the reinforcement team would be arriving today. I hoped they would somehow send a rescue team to rescue me. I thought of our trip’s mission: Finding the fossils of the dinosaur. I didn’t have much luck to that without my fossil finder, which got lost,thanks to the camel. Speaking of that camel, I couldn’t describe how much hatred I got for it, getting me into so much trouble. Still, I forced myself to continue my journey on the camel. The dry climate made me drink my whole bottle of water. If I don’t find water source soon, I’d die of dehydration. I imgained someday the news headline would say : Fossil explorer found dead in the Gobi desert. No,that couldn’t happen. As long as I lived on, that headline won’t appear. Was it just an illusion? Or was that real? I saw water! Water infront of me! I knew that deserts are famous for creating illusions.But why not go see it ?I urged the camel to run faster. In return, it snorted at me. My anger bursted, I kicked it real hard. All of a sudden, I was dropped onto the sand. The camel ran away as fast as lightning. Again, I got myself into trouble. If I had controlled my temper, my supplies won’t be gone with that camel. It was still mid afternoon and the heat was burning my head off.I looked at the water again. Though I felt exhausted, I still walked. I was feeling dizzy and the ground was spinning. Where was I ? I was lying on a hard, cold surface and I wasn’t thirsty anymore. Am I in heaven? Am I dead? Thousands of questions filled my mind. I could barely open my eyes, but I noticed the pitch dark surroundings. I was petrified, the howls around,tiny screeching noises too. Something soft touched my face,I blinked my eyes.No!It couldn’t be true!I saw a pack of wolves surrounding me. The wolves must have carried me to their land. Shouldn’t they have eaten me? Afterall, I was flesh lying in the desert. Somehow, they must have had sympathy for me and decided to quench my thirst and feed me. This wasn’t a legend. Wolves feeding me... Then, a voice called me,“human!” I scurried infront of the wolf leader and bowed.It said,“I have told my herd to let you live, and here is the location of the fossil...”The voice faded and I was back in a trance. I woke and found myself on the desert sand again.What happened? I remembered the wolves and that didn’t seem to be a dream.Infront of me was a bone,and no,even more bones. I instantly start digging and there it was---the ostrich-like dinosaur fossil. The reunition was great,partly because there was food.My team was surprised at my discovery,they never thought without the fossil finder,I could still finish this task.Even more,they asked me how I survived without food and water for a month.I didn’t realize I had been missing for such a long time until then. I kept the story between the wolves and me as a secret,I bet they wouldn’t like humans knowing about their magic. The headlines were out:Explorer lost for a month finds fossil.Reporters from everywhere questioned me about this impossible discovery.The fossil was placed in the museum.None of the outsiders knew the story behind,except you, my dear reader. New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School, Jasmine Lo, Fiction: Group 2

ow and then, there were numerous tales of the Gobi Desert, but none of them were like the one I am about to tell you. Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Sasha Riddle and I am twenty-eight years old. I am an explorer. I have recently travelled to the Gobi Desert in search of a Nlegendary canal that was said to connect to the world of the prehistoric times. Anyway, it all begins with a phone call from the Discovery Channel. “Hello? Is this Miss Riddle?” A booming voice asked. “Yes, how can I help you?” I asked. “Miss Riddle, this is Adam Peterson from the Discovery Channel. We were just wondering if you would like to go to the Gobi Desert and film a documentary for us.” The man said. “Well…..” I was so shocked that I couldn’t speak a word out! “You don’t have to answer us in a hurry, you can call us within this week to tell us if you accept the offer or not.” Adam said quickly. “It’s okay, I accept the offer.” I finally found my voice back. “Are you sure? This mission is a bit risky.” Adam warned me. “Actually what is this mission and what exactly do I have to do?” I asked. “In this mission, you have to go to the Gobi Desert and search for a legendary canal that was said to connect to the world of the prehistoric times.” Adam explained. “A lost canal that was said to connect to the world of the prehistoric times?” I was bewildered. “Yes, that’s the mission. And the plane to Inner Mongolia is on next Wednesday at 9:30a.m. Pack your things up this week and prepare for your trip. The plane ticket will be mailed to you later. A guide will be waiting for you by the time you reach Inner Mongolia. She will lead you to where people said the canal was and she will also arrange your hotels and meals. After you complete your mission, we will give you your pay by putting them into your account. And also, if you have any enquiries, feel free to phone our channel. Last but not least, remember to stay away from dangers and especially, prehistoric creatures. Good bye and good luck.” He hung the phone immediately, as if I was going to flood him with millions of questions. I sat down on my couch with a thud. Hundreds of emotions flooded to me all of a sudden. “Wow” is all I could say. I let my emotions sink inside me. The plane ticket was, just like Adam promised, delivered to me by mail the following day after the phone call he gave me. And in the following days before the trip, I packed my stuff and put them inside my gigantic backpack. I searched information about the Gobi Desert, so to prepare myself for the trip. I found out that it is the fifth largest desert in the world and the largest desert in Asia. Soon, the day of the trip came. I was nervous and excited in the same time. I boarded the flight I was supposed to take and arrived safely in Inner Mongolia. The guide, Bolormaa, greeted me passionately and led me to a nearby hotel to stay the night. Bolormaa is a thirty-year-old Mongolian woman who has once been to America to study and because of that she speaks English fluently. We chatted while we eating our dinner and she warned me about the legendary canal. “People here are aware of the legendary canal, they are afraid that the prehistoric creatures would escape from the prehistoric world using the canal.” Bolormaa said with a serious look on her face. “I don’t know what I should think about this whole thing, Bolormaa. It seems to me that this is just a legend or people are making rumours about it. I mean, seriously, you said so yourself, the LEGENDARY canal.” I emphasize the ‘legendary’ word. “Yeah, I know. That’s what everybody else thinks the last decade. But everything changed since this guy called Ganbaatar claimed that he saw the canal and everybody still thinks that he was just fooling around at that time. But then, another guy came along and also claimed that he saw the canal. Eventually, more people said they saw it and we started to believe in it and even got scared of it. Well, I know it all sounds ridiculous to you, but that’s what people said.” Bolormaa explained. “Okay…” I tried to swallow what Bolormaa said. “Hey, Sasha, you know what, how about this: let’s go to bed earlier since it’s going to be a tough day tomorrow and we need enough rest to prepare us for this. We will talk about the canal tomorrow.” Bolormaa suggested. I nodded and did as she said. We were both full of energy the next day and were ready to find the canal. We went out and took a small helicopter to where the canal was said to be seen. As we stepped out of the helicopter, a gentle breeze welcomed us and we walked into the sand of the Gobi Desert. The helicopter left and we were alone in the endless view of the desert. Bolormaa led me to a small sand hill. We walked to the top and Bolormaa said, “This is the place.” “Aren’t you scared, Bolormaa?” I asked, trembling with fear. “Not at all, Sasha.” She answered simply. Bolormaa started to chant some words in Mongolian. Suddenly, a whirl of wind blew towards us. And the legendary canal opened to us. “Let’s start filming our documentary.” I said. We filmed our documentary as we got through the canal. It was just like the legend. We entered the prehistoric world and saw many prehistoric creatures. There were dinosaurs everywhere and we had to hide when we saw them because we were afraid that they saw us and attacked us. The prehistoric world was amazing and wondrous. After we finished filming, we went back the way we came from. Since we used some tiny pebbles to mark the way we came, we knew the way back to the canal. We got back to our world safe and sound. Bolormaa called the helicopter to come. We rode the helicopter back to Inner Mongolia. And in the next day, Bolormaa went to the airport with me. We bided farewells and I thanked her for helping me so much. And just like that, I successfully completed my mission and earned my pay. My adventure was being told everywhere now and I hope that this new tale of the Gobi Desert will be known by everyone in the world by the end of this century. New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Lam Man Chan English Primary School, Peter Choi, Fiction: Group 2

ne day, Mike’s grandpa visited Mike and his family. Mike’s grandpa is a journalist. He wanted to tell Mike about a place called the Gobi Desert. He said the Gobi is a desert region in Asia and it is also the fifth largest desert in the world. Mike’s grandpa said he had travelled to almost every place except the Gobi Desert. And he said ‘Would you like Oto go with me on a journey to the Gobi Desert? ‘. Mike knows a lot of information about deserts and knows different kinds of desert, but he has never heard of the Gobi. Mike decided to go with his grandpa on a journey to the Gobi. Mike’s grandpa said ‘We will ride on the Trans-Mongolian train which goes to the Gobi at 7 in the morning from Moscow. It should take a few days to get there. ‘Mike did not want to wake up early, but he knew the journey would be fun. The next day, Mike’s grandpa woke up Mike. Mike forgot that today was the day he goes to the Gobi Desert. After Mike remembers it, he quickly prepares his clothes and brushed his teeth. He said goodbye to his parents and he left the house with his grandpa. First he needed to ride a plane to Russia to ride the train to Gobi Desert. It took around 9 hours and 30 minutes to go to Russia. After they arrived in Moscow, they quickly ran to the train stop. They took the train and were happy that they could take a rest. They needed to spend 6 days inside the train so that they can arrive in the Gobi Desert. Mike thought that being a journalist is really hard. They rode the Trans- Siberian railway to Mongolia. The train stops for 20-30 minutes every 3-4 hours. Passengers can get out of the train and have some fresh food to eat at the train stop. It was a long ride to the Gobi Desert. They couldn’t wait to see the Gobi Desert. After 5 tiring nights, they couldn’t believe that they had finally arrived in the Gobi Desert. They quickly got off the train and they started taking photos. They were very excited to see some interesting stuff that they have in the Gobi Desert. Before they went further, they double checked to see if they had plenty of water to stay in the Gobi Desert for a long time. While they were walking, Mike’s grandpa said ‘The first dinosaur eggs were first founded in the Gobi Desert.’. Mike got more excited after hearing what Mike’s grandpa said. They saw some camels in the Gobi Desert. Grandpa’s favorite animal was camels. He also knew how to ride a camel. There were also some sand dunes which looked like mountains. The Gobi Desert was really warm. They were always thirsty and they had to drink many water. While Mike was walking in the Gobi Desert, he was very surprised. The reason was because there were no rubbish and air pollution. Mike told this to his grandpa and grandpa said ‘You will see something really unique tonight while staying in the Gobi Desert. While walking, they also saw some canyons. Mike was so happy because this was his first time to visit the canyon. The canyon was very huge. Mike was confused that why not many people come to visit the Gobi Desert. He thinks this place is a very good place to visit although the Gobi doesn’t has tall buildings, cars or shops. Grandpa saw a very nice view of the sunset. The sun was going down, getting covered by the sand dunes. It was a very nice view. Mike thought he would never see a sunset except watching it on TV. After 3 hours of exploring, it was 10 o’clock at night and they saw the native Mongol tribes in a tent. They went to the tent and they greeted each other. They also ate some food prepared by the Mongols. After having a late dinner, they saw something really fantastic. There were stars above. Mike couldn’t believe that there were so many stars. It is hard to find a star in cities because of the air pollution. While watching the stars, Mike fell asleep. The next day, they had to go back to the USA. They first walked to the train station. But before they ride the train, Mike took many photos so that he can remember this special moment. Later, they finally arrived at the train station. They rode the train which goes directly back to Moscow. Inside the train, Mike was very tired and he slept for a long time. When Mike woke up, they had already arrived in Moscow. They quickly got off the train and went to the airport. They were hungry so they ate some food in the airport. And finally, they got on the plane and flew back to the USA. When they arrived in the USA, he was happy that he was back home. They took a taxi and went back to their home. When they arrived to their house, Mike ran inside the home and hugged his parents. Mike really missed them very much. But grandpa needed to go back home. Mike also hugged his grandpa and said goodbye. After his grandpa left his home, we realized it was night time. He was happy that he came back home, but he missed the stars that he could see in the Gobi Desert. He also missed the camels, canyon, sand dunes and the Mongols. Later, he quickly ran to his parents and showed them the photos that he took in the Gobi Desert. New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Lam Man Chan English Primary School, Susan Limbu, Fiction: Group 2

am writing an adventure of the Gobi Desert. As a journalist, my task was to find a dinosaur egg. That sounds impossible, but I am going to make it possible. Going to the Gobi desert was fun, it was really a good adventure. I went with my helpers. We stayed in the Gobi desert for five days. IAs I was heading to Mongolia, I saw camels through the train window. I have never seen a real life camel ever before so it was exciting. I finally arrived in the Gobi desert. The Gobi desert looked really plain to me. While walking in the Gobi desert, I was interested in insects that were in the desert. I took a lot of photos of bugs and spiders. My helpers wanted to ride on a camel. We rode it gently so it wouldn’t hurt us. The weather was sunny. We drank a lot of water. When we walked along the desert, we found a place to stay. We found a helpful Mongolian family who let us stay in their home and we thanked them. It was getting dark. The stars looked so pretty. I had never seen such amazing star nights before. The next day, we left the Mongolian house and went a bit farther. My helpers and I decided to find a dinosaur bone. We dug out the sands and searched for hours. One of my helpers finally found a dinosaur bone. It was small, but it was worth it. We looked for more dinosaur bones to collect. I found a huge dinosaur tooth. It was sharp. Of course my task was to find a dinosaur egg not a tooth, but still I took it home. Another helper of mine found a dinosaur bone. This time it was huge. It was taller than me. We all had no idea how to take it with us! We felt thirsty on our way home. There wasn’t much water in the Gobi desert. We had to walk a long way to find an oasis. As I was walking, I felt dizzy, I couldn’t walk anymore. I had fainted. When I opened my eyes, I was in a tent. My helpers were with me. I was happy. They worked hard to drag me and the dinosaur bone using all their strength. I found out that there was some water left in the bottle. I gave it to my helpers for appreciation. I kept thinking all night “What if I don’t find the egg?’’. I knew it was hard, but it was my task and I didn’t want to give up so fast. There is still three more days to go. On the third day, the wind was strong. My helpers and I were worried. The Gobi desert doesn’t have much rainfall. It rarely rains. We went walking far again. This time we went so far. When I was walking, I saw a few houses. I was surprised. Me and my helpers went to the village. We were invited by a little boy to stay at his house for a few days. We asked the boy’s mother why they love to live in the desert. She said the people here love to see the sunset and the stars here, even though it’s a dangerous place for them. She told me I can find them in the deeper of the desert sands if I look at it carefully. I remembered her words in my mind. I also found some travelers who were staying at this village. The travelers decided that we all work together to find what we want. The next day, the other travelers had camels. They wanted us to ride it. Riding on camels was really cool. I was really bad at riding camels unfortunately. I saw some Gobi bears in our way. They didn’t saw us luckily. The mom was right. I saw the morning sunrise. It was beautiful. I kept taking photos on our way. I felt like staying in Gobi desert forever, but I have to go back home too. As we walked along the road, I felt the nice breeze. I felt like flying through the sky. When we were walking, we stopped for a while to rest, but I decided to look for the dinosaur egg. Suddenly while I was walking, I saw a cave. I was curious what was inside the cave and I went inside and take a look. It was dark. I turned on my torch light. Then I saw something big, I went closer to it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a dinosaur egg! I was very happy. I called my helpers and told them to help me carry it. I told the travelers and the villagers. They were surprised. I finished my task finally! On the last day, I said goodbye to everyone and head back to my country. This was one of my best adventures. It was really fun in the Gobi desert. New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Lam Man Chan English Primary School, Siddhartha Mohan Narasipura, Fiction: Group 2

i! My name is Jake Brown. I am an adventurer, driving miles and miles in the Gobi Desert in the scorching hot. Let’s rewind two weeks back. I was walking on a lovely street enjoying the pleasant weather in a country called new world. On the way, I saw a flea market where people were buying and selling things such as crystal gondolas. I Hwalked through the flea market and bought a small sphere. After returning home, I started reading a book about the Gobi Desert. I have a habit of reading aloud. The Gobi desert is in between China and Mongolia and is the fifth largest in the world. Whenever I said Gobi, I always hear an awkward sound is coming from my bag! As I opened my bag the sound stopped. I saw a golden light around the sphere inside my bag. I took the sphere ball out and said Gobi, it flashed so bright, I had to cover my eyes. Then the ball started to levitate around me and stopped. Then a golden Dragon statue popped out from the sphere and tried to touch it. But it came to life and said in a rough voice “Hello Sir knight”, to Jake. You have a different Aura. That’s why you are the chosen one for this mission. I was confused and asked “what do you mean?” The Dragon answered, you need to go to the Gobi desert and save our lives from a bad guy. What?… The Dragon answered, “I will only tell you ,if you agree to come on this voyage and will not turn back.” “Before that can I ask something’’ I asked “sure.” The dragon answered “Don’t you think that I am too young and only twenty -five years ol…’’. But the dragon cut me off and said “ one wise man said that ,no matter what you are , how old you are it is never too late for a good deed: OK!.” Is there any reward, if I complete this voyage?” I asked. “Yes, you will get a pool of gold”, the Dragon said. I visulized myself swimming in a pool of gold until the dragon snapped his finger to me. I bounced back and said “OK! I need to save your world but how?’’ I asked. “You need to participate in a quiz about the Gobi desert. “You ‘re lucky ,a man finished half of the challenge” ,the dragon answered. “What do you mean by it? I asked. The last man finished a violent physical challenge, but he was dead by the time he finished the quiz. “Okay! That means now I need to study for the quiz. “Who is that bad guy”, I asked. “ The black Dragon took control over the Dragon World. If you beat him with his challenge he can give us back our world’’ the dragon said. In two weeks, I read all the books about the Gobi desert in the new world Library. Now you know, why I am in this desert. Do you want to know where and how I am going.? We need to take a flight to Ulan Baatar then drive 2300 miles south east. Wait, I can see the dragon statue jumped out the jeep and ran towards the statue. But it did not vanish. Do you know why? ,Let me tell you that the dragon from the sphere had a ring on its right ear and on the Internet I saw that dragons statues, with rings around their right ears will not vanish ,if you have an aura. I saw there was a hole in the stomach, but what should I do next?. Then something hit me, I took out the sphere and placed it in the hole. The dragon statue went down into the sand and a door came up. I opened the door and went in. To my surprise a lot of dragons were in the lair. There I spotted the golden dragon, and said, “ Hi .” “Hello Sir Knight”, please take your seat on the stage the dragon said. There was a black dragon looking at me with much hatred. The golden dragon announced, attention….please, this is a 10 day contest, which sleeps are disqualified, and I thought “What …I cannot. The instruction is: You have to press the buzzer on your table to give your answers otherwise you cannot answer. Then I remembered the twenty packets of coffee powder in my bag. I took two packets and swallowed the powder to stay awake for 24hours. “YUCK”, it’s too bitter. I did the same everyday for the next 9 days during the early morning break period because you cannot take a nap. All the questions were about the Gobi desert. On the first ,S few days the questions were easy. However ,the questions progressively became harder. We were tired and even the audience fell asleep. The black dragon could not take it anymore “I give up”, said the Dragon and drifted to a long tiresome sleep. So I was crowned the winner , and the dragons hailed me as their new king. I said, “I cannot be your king ,and need to go back to my world.” But I can choose a capable king for you. Mmm... I forgot to ask the name of the Golden Dragon. So I asked him. The golden dragon answered, “Nornia sir Knight.” I announced the Golden Dragon as the new king and partied all night. The dragons gave a crown as a gift. I requested them to keep the crown as a memory. Nornia said “SURE” and dropped me at my home. I asked for a photo with Nornia. Both took a lot of photos. Nornia said “BYE” and left without anyone’s notice. I remembered a question “Who are you?.The dragons heard and answered. We are the dragons of the Gobi. I went to the museum and met my friend professor Leo. I showed him the crown and pictures. He was shocked but he displayed it at the museum and I was honoured by the mayor. I called it “New Tales of the Gobi Desert.” New Tales of the Gobi Desert PLK Lam Man Chan English Primary School, Nafeesa Seyed Ismail, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was an explorer named Sven Anders Hedin. He was also a geographer, topographer and a photographer. He once travelled to Mongol to see the Gobi Desert. He was surprised by the peoples’ clothing so he was curious and eager to know about it. When he was guided by a Bedouin named Bataar who knew a lot about Othe Gobi Desert. Bataar said” Mr. Sven, The Gobi Desert is the largest region that covers parts of northern and north-western China and southern Mongolia. It is the fifth largest desert in the world” Sven replied” Bataar, It is like a dream come true. It is amazing to be here.” Suddenly, a dust devil occurred. Both the explorer and the Bedouin ran as fast and far away from the dust devil. They were exhausted running for their life. Next day, Bataar went to see Sven. Sven was sleeping so Bataar woke him up. Bataar and Sven did not go out anywhere but stayed at home because Sven was afraid of the Dust Devil. Nonetheless Bataar was not afraid so he begged and encouraged him to go out and explore. Sven was stubborn and did not go out at all. Sven asked Bataar” Hey! Why aren’t you people afraid of the sand tornado?” Bataar laughed and replied” It is because we are used to this. This is not new for us.” Sven was confused and puzzled. Bataar asked Sven” Hey, Any problem?” Sven replied” No, I am thinking that will I be used to this also, isn’t it dangerous?” Bataar replied with a smile” You will be used to it if you are brave to face it, you won’t be used to it if you are scared of it. Then you will know is it dangerous or not.” Sven went to take a shower while Bataar was waiting to tell him some interesting facts about the Gobi Desert. Sven changed his clothes and sat near Bataar. Bataar was filled with joy. Sven asked Bataar” Any good news?” Bataar replied” Yes, I want to tell you some interesting facts about the Gobi.” Sven took out a notebook and a pen from his backpack to note it down. Bataar continued “Archeologists and paleontologists have done excavations in the Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert, which is noted for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, the first dinosaur eggs and prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old. Also, there are 45 different kinds of species in the Gobi.” Sven wrote everything then he asked Bataar” Buddy, go and have your lunch then come.” Bataar replied” Bye!” and left. After lunch, Sven wanted to have a walk so he decided to overcome his fears and he walked until he reached Bataar’s tent. There was Bataar eating his lunch which was date palms and camel milk. Sven had never seen date palms so he asked Bataar about them. Bataar was surprised seeing Sven outside his house. He was surprised and ashamed because he thought that Sven would never explore the beauty of the Gobi but Sven overcome his fears he was proud of him also he was ashamed because he did not see Sven standing outside his tent so he asked forgiveness. Sven was so curious to know about the name of the fruit and the milk he drank. Bataar said” This fruit name is date palm its cultivated for its edible sweet fruit and the milk I drank is not from cow but from camel, it is camel milk.” Sven wondered how hard would it be to not to eat proper lunch. Sven left Bataar’s tent and walked to explore the Gobi. Sven was in an adventurous mood so he explored more. He was lost! He did not lose his bravery. He ran here and there for help, no luck no one was there but Bataar followed and observed Sven’s footsteps and found him. Sven was happy to see Bataar. Sven took out his pen and notebook to note down” Bedouins find lost animals or people by observing their footsteps.” After noting it down, Sven asked Bataar” How do you know is the footsteps is animal or human?” Bataar replied” We observe them carefully.” Sven and Bataar walked more distance. While walking, Sven asked Bataar to get a shovel. Bataar tried to ask why but Sven hurried him. Bataar tried to find a shovel and he did. He gave the shovel to Sven. Then, Sven started to dig. Bataar was confused so he annoyed Sven asking” Why are you digging?” Sven tried to ignore but he can’t so he told Bataar” I think there is something. I want to know what is it that’s why I am digging. Understood! Now, be quiet.” Bataar was waiting for Sven to finish. Sven took out his archeologist kit. After one hour, Sven finished. He found a dinosaur egg. Bataar and Sven were very excited. Sven took out his camera from his backpack and took a photo of the egg. Then, he took the egg to his house. He asked Bataar to leave because Sven wanted to finish the project by himself. The last day of the trip, Sven finished his project and packed up. Bataar arrived at Sven’s house. Bataar was so sad that Sven was leaving. Sven told Bataar” Buddy, you taught me a lot about the Gobi and also about bravery. Than you and have this as my gift for you. It is a new thobe and a turban. Bataar smiled and replied” Thank you so much. I am happy that you know the name of our costume.” They laughed. Bataar gave Sven a book which was filled with information of the Gobi and said” Sven, have this as my gift, it will be useful for your project.” Both of them thanked each other and the time has come for Sven to leave. Sven left in a camel. Both of them knew a lot about the Gobi. THE HISTORY-CHANGING DETOUR Po Leung Kuk Camoes Tan Siu Lin Primary School, Ethan Cheng, Fiction: Group 2

Not too long ago, a few boys and girls about the same age as you and me completed a feat no-one has ever tried in history. But first of all, let me introduce them to you. The brown-haired girl is Fiona. The funky-haired boy is Harry. The other boy with neat hair is Dave. The other pretty girl is Natalie. Remember that now.

* * *

The friends took off on a nice summer’s day with their school study tour to Beijing, China. The originally planned 3 hour flight felt like forever as they realized the plane had been hovering above Mongolia until an unexpected turbulence that took them to an emergency landing. Tumbling down the emergency slide, they were first shocked by a huge wave of sand. “TAKE COVER!” yelled the tour guide. “THIS IS ONE BIG SANDSTORM!” Fiona, who was the brainiest, handed out sun goggles and wet towels to the gang immediately so they would not be blinded by the sand. The children tried to stay together and walk backwards against the wind, which was NOT an easy thing to do. They couldn’t hear anyone anymore. All they could hear and feel is the rush of the wind. When the storm finally stopped, the children were in the middle of nowhere. On their own.

* * * Because of the heat, the children decided to take refuge in some caves on the Silk Road, Mongolia (according to Google GPS). They stumbled blindly into one of the caves and collapsed into their sleeping bags after a whole day of turmoil. But when the children were asleep, a figure in black crept cautiously into the cave. He/she/ it fumbled with something, and suddenly a loud roar shook the entire cave. Harry lit a lamp and held it up. There was no-one to be seen except the lamp, the half-empty cave and themselves.

* * * The awoken children sat on the ground, feeling tired and shivering in unexpected cold. It was one o-clock in the morning, and they had spent all night trying to find the cause of the commotion. Dave tried to sound upbeat. “Hey guys, maybe we’ll look around the end of the cave? I always thought there was something fishy over there…” But three cold stares answered his question. “Oh, okay, see you later…” Dave mumbled. Dave lit another lamp and trudged deeper into the cave. The air was much chillier down here. Dave shivered and pulled his jacket closer. He didn’t want to catch a cold. Suddenly, the path ended at a big plain. Dave raised up his lamp to examine the area. The scene he found out next was so surprising he hesitated for a while before calling the others down. The whole wall was covered with paintings. Very, very old paintings of a hundred Buddha.

* * * The group looked at the paintings again. Natalie, who was the art expert, said, “These paintings were probably painted by ancient Mongolian cavemen. But what surprised me was the details. They were all painted exactly to the descriptions of the Buddha…” “Um, guys, actually, archeologists have already discovered these series of paintings, so technically, we, um, shouldn’t be surprised…” mumbled Fiona. She held up her iPad mini for them to see. Sure enough, the caves of paintings were on already. “So, guys, what do we do now? Take pictures?” asked Dave. “No. The flash of the camera will damage the paintings. We better leave it be.” said Fiona matter-of-factly. The group hiked back up the cave. Only Harry stayed behind. He admired the paintings on the walls. The Buddha meditating with a group of followers, the Buddha in the afterlife, a bearded man sitting on the Buddha throne… wait a second. A bearded man sitting on the Buddha throne? Harry’s heart skipped a beat. His hand shaking, he touched the old man. Suddenly, the wall vibrated. Then, a familiar roar echoed through the cave, and a secret passage way appeared.

* * *

The group walked cautiously through the dark. Soon, they reached the end of the tunnel. They gasped. The entire room was piled with loads of gold and silver and every precious item you can name. Harry noticed a wooden coffin. On it were etched miniature words:Чингис . Genghis. They had found a long-lost grave. When the group decided to investigate further, someone appeared amid the pile of treasure. He was carrying a sack of gold. The group immediately thought that this guy was up to no good. “You shouldn’t be doing this. You are disgracing the memory of Genghis Khan!” said Harry hotly. Quick as lightning, the thief tried to escape. But Dave stepped out his foot, and the thief tripped on the floor. A piece of rolled- up parchment fell out. Fiona picked it up and read it aloud. Whoever finds this piece of paper: This is the last will and testament of Genghis Khan, founder and great Khan of Mongolia. Here I demand henceforth, that all the treasure in my lifetime should be given to the poor of my empire. Your r uler, Genghis Khan

* * * When the group emerged from the caves, thanks to the GPS signal from Fiona’s iPad mini, two helicopters from the Mongolian police force were at their rescue. On the way to the capital, the thief explained that he was actually an archeologist who found the will of Genghis Khan a month ago. But he didn’t dare tell others because he was afraid they might destroy the caves to find the grave. So continuously, he sneaked in and out of the cave to bring some treasure to the poor. In awe, the children decided that this adventure is ‘mildly’ more fun than their original study tour. They couldn’t believe they had found the grave that the whole world has been hunting for. And most importantly, this grave belongs to a brave man of a generous heart. The Story of the Soldier Po Leung Kuk Camoes Tan Siu Lin Primary School, Jeffrey Ho, Fiction: Group 2

If there’s anything worse than falling off your horse, it’s being stabbed with a sword. And if there’s anything worse than being stabbed, it’s being stabbed with a poisoned sword. That’s how Uxei felt when he lay on the battlefield after the Battle of Hexi. He thought of helping the other wounded beside him. Nah, we’re all dead anyway. He crawled into a sheltered alcove. At least there’s shade here, so I can die in peace. A few minutes passed. Uxei could feel the poison slowly creeping to his heart. Wonder what happens when it’s over? “Bad Uxei,’’ he told himself, “Don’t be so pessimistic.’’ Yet he knew he was going to die. He could feel it. Right on cue, his heart started to beat faster. It’s starting. His heart started fluttering like an injured bird. I will not die a coward. Suddenly, he could hear scuttling. The Mongolian death worm. He remembered the day he set off to fight. His parents had told him,’’ The death worm can be a blessing sometimes.’’ Times like now? It’s worth a shot. “Here, boy,’’ he started calling. “Here, little worm.’’ It worked. The worm scuttled closer, out of curiosity. It fired an experimental shock from its tail. Immediately, Uxei could feel his heart beating normally again. “Thanks, boy’’ He examined the juvenile death worm. “You need a name. I’m calling you Shocktail.’’ The death worm waggled its hindquarters, evidently pleased to be recognized. “You want to come with me, Shocktail?’’ The death worm bobbed its head. “It will be dangerous. Deaths are likely to happen.’’ It seemed to be saying, “Deaths are my specialty.’’ And on that happy note, they set off into the desert.

* * * “You do realize we’ve no idea of where we’re going.’’ Uxei told Shocktail. The death worm kept going. “Do you?’’ As usual, it didn’t reply. But Uxei suspected it had more tricks up its sleeve, like built-in sat- nav, for instance. He decided to play dumb and keep going. After a while, they came to a small town. Shocktail paused, and, if worms could crouch, it did that too. As if it sensed enemy territory, he thought. They scouted around the outskirts, using boulders as cover. Shocktail paused and growled. A Han patrol was coming out of the town. We’ve got to get out of here. Shocktail did better than that. It entered a tunnel. C’mon, if you don’t want to die, it’s expression read. Uxei had no choice but to follow. He hoped Shocktail would eat up all the nasty animals that slept here. It turned out that Uxei didn’t need to crouch. The tunnel was high enough for cavalry. What if the Han have been using these tunnels to move around? What if we meet a Han patrol? Shocktail moved briskly and soon Uxei had to run to keep up. “You sure this is the right way?’’ Silence. Shocktail started to run faster, making Uxei breathless. “Can’t we stop for a break?’’ Uxei panted. The Han are near. Can’t you sense it? it seemed to say. “Well, no.’’ Humans and their miniscule brains. It rolled its eyes. Typical. “Hey!’’ No more chitchat. We have to move now. “Can’t I ride on your back?’’ Alright. But be careful not to touch my sensitive parts. “What?’’ Never mind. After a while, the duo exited the tunnels. “I’m thirsty,’’ Uxei said. There’s an oasis nearby. “A what?’’ O-a-s-i-s. A rest stop with water. Didn’t you learn anything from your mama worm? “In case you’re wondering, I do not have a worm for a mother.’’ Oh yes. Sorry. This spot is very near your hometown. “You know where I live?’’ Of course. I know all your secrets. I’m much more intelligent than you think. “Even my secret crush?’’ Let’s not get started, it snapped. Uh-oh. Han alert!!! “Where?’’ There!! With a sinking feeling, Uxei could see that Shocktail was right. A thousand Hans were just rounding the corner. Come on, I’ll cover you. You go warn your colleagues. “But will you be alright?’’ I know how to fight. Now go!! Uxei didn’t need to warn them. Roughly the same number of Xiongnu charged out to meet the enemy. Change of plan. We attack them together. “Right!!’’ The battle raged on and on. At one point, the Xiongnu were pushed back to the gates, but Shocktail charged in from the right, spraying poison and zapping the Han with its electric tail. Within minutes, the whole Han right flank was destroyed. This gave the Xiongnu new power, and they crushed the Han like a vice. Everything was OK, until Shocktail received a blow to the stomach. It was a very deep one, and it bled like crazy. Uxei didn’t notice this until the battle ended. “Oh my gods, Shocktail, you’re hurt!’’ I’ll be OK. Perhaps. “But...... you’re dying! I can feel it!’’ That is correct. Only one thing I gotta ask you. I was unconscious at the end of the battle. Did....we...... win? “Yes,’’ his eyes streaming. “Yes, we did.’’ Thank....you. Goodbye,.... old..friend. And Uxei’s tears were warm on the death worm’s scarred nose. The New Tales of the Gobi Desert Po Leung Kuk Camoes Tan Siu Lin Primary School, Suyasha Mohan, Narasipuram, Fiction: Group 2

Hi! My name is Suyasha or sue for short.Now I am in Gobi Desert finding a treasure with my friend Yurika. We both were walking miles and and miles finding a cave.You guys must be thinking why am I here? When I was sleeping ,I heard a noise. And It said, “Hi !I am the Magic God and I heard your melodious voice. I thought you’re the capable human finding our ancestor’s treasure in the Gobi Desert.” “But why me,why not anybody else?”, I questioned. “Because you’re smart in music and adventurous ”answered The Magic God. “Music! How is there Music in a treasure hunt?”I astonished and murmured. “I will explain further,if you are willing to find out the treasure and not turn down.” I asked“Is there any reward for finding the treasure?.” “You will be awarded with a sack of diamonds and a diamond crown.” “Great !I will surely do it”,I acceepted for this adventurous hunt. “Magic God , can you explain how to explore the treasure?”I asked. He answered, “My assistant will guide you at the Gobi Desert, near a cave called Treasure Cave.” Then I requested to Magic God , “Can I take my friend with me ,who is also smart in music ?.” “Yes,you can”,replied The Magic God. Yurika guided to the trasure cave, with her GPS device. “Here it is, “Voila!.”Yuri yelled in French language. “What” I asked. “Look,it is the cave.”she answered. “Eureka!” I shouted. “What is that!?”Yurika asked. “Eurika is a Greek word,it means “explored. When we were entering the cave , Yurika shouted, “stop.” Yurika got a glimpse of something shiny. We went to see it , It was a shiny ball. “Ahhh..”,we both shouted.It suddenly changed into a half lion and half fish. “Hi!my name is Lish and I am from the Magic God”Lish said. “You must be suy ,right”,Lish said in a friendlyway. “Yes,I am and this is Yurika.”I said. The treasure you’re looking for holds our ancestor’s book and their treasure. This treasure is now in the hands of the queen of the demons Demona. To reach the queen you have to cross many challenges. “You only have 4 days to find her. After that she will get more powers and no one can win- over her,because it is a fullmoon day. we will loose our treasure forever. ancestor’s treasure ”,Lish told us. We were petrified by what we heard. It made our hair stand on end ,and we freezed. “Move! come on!”Lish shouting made us back to the present. We started our journey with Lish to find the queen Demona. “Don’t follow the GPS device,Knowledge comes from mind,not books or gadgets.” Lish told us. But we still checked the GPS ,there was nothing.Lish was correct.We walked untill some thing blocked us from going,it was a big wall. Lish told us to sing “do re me fa so la te do” because it can collapse the wall. so I did it and it really works. The wall was gone.Then we saw a big chess board ,an instuction board and demon soldiers of Demona. Instructions are , we were playing chess,with our own footsteps. “Me vs Demons !” I shouted. Demons are way too smart but I have no other choice. I was not able to win over them.While playing I was thinking what to do and humming “do re me fa so la te do.” Surprisingly the demons fell flat on the ground.that small word made the demons unconscious. WOW!we sprinted as fast as we could so the demons won’t wakeup. We suddenly saw Yurika feeling tired(Yurika is very thin girl,she doesn’t eat much either). So we started building a tent.Once we finished it was 10p.m.So we were of to sleep.”zzzzz”,we all snored.Next day,we packed our bags and set off. Suddenly we saw big Emarald stones. “Help!”yurika shouted. she was captured by one of the Emarald stones. Lish read a board of instructions and told me to try to find the real Yurika.The emaralds had copies of her. So I want to find real yurika ,I asked “who is my second best friend starting with a letter M.” “Muskan”the real yurika shouted. Yurika was out but she is in the shock. I encouraged her and reminded our motto. We wenton. Suddenly a board came and started flying around us and stopped the way. Lish read the instructions on the flying board ,which only Lish can read in that speed. Lish told to sing some baby song with the word “Ringa” to pacify the board from revolving. Then Yurika sang “Ringa ringa roses….” The board stopped and came to ground.We sat on the board according to Lish’s instructions. The flying board flew to queen of appreciation and disappeared from there. A lady came and introduced “ Hi!I am a queen of appre ciation”,This is a test for you, “Can you answer me , “thank you” in 3 different languages.” “Merci,Danke and xie xie.” me and yurika answered. “correct”she said and gave the way. We got exhausted and fell asleep. Next morning ,it was the last day of finding the treasure. We were in tense and started finding the queen of Demona. Walking we reached to a dark scary place. There we heard a Commanding voice “I can sense some humans entered our kingdom,are there any demon soldiers?I order you to catch them..” Somebody caught us in a net and put infront of the queen of Demona. Then Lish told us to sing a song melodiously.Because Demona can not tolerate melodious voice. We both sang ,Demona died. We handedover the treasure to the Magic God and he rewarded us with diamonds and the diamond crown. We took photos with the Magic God with his permission. The Magic God and Lish dropped back at our homes. Next day ,we showed our adventurous photos in college to our principal. Our principal awarded us “The best students of the year 2014”,and announced this is called “The New Tales of the Gobi Desert.” Tales of the Gobi Desert Pui Kiu College, Matthew Chan Lap Hung, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was a city in the middle of a large plain, the population was about 100 000 000. Their technology was advanced and their city was tremendously big. There was a mansion on top of a hill and the person living there was the mayor of Diamond Ville. Although the city had advanced technology, there was little food because Oeveryone wanted to work indoors so the city couldn`t solve its hunger problems. The mayor solved the problem temporarily by trading precious minerals for food. After some time, scientists gave a report that predicted the trading would let them trade for 2 more years. People started buying huge amounts of food from the mayor and stored them up. The food wasn`t eaten so it started to rot and the food problem got more serious. Scientists predicted that if the population didn`t decrease in half, they were doomed. The president announced the first scientist who found a way to solve the problem would be able to live in a villa next to the mayor`s house. Scientists began researching and rushing into labs, trying to discover the way to solve the problem. A scientist named Gobi invented a ray gun which would turn any type of atoms into a different type of atom. He tried the gun on a piece of rock and set the setting to gold, he fired the ray gun and it turned into a lump of gold. Gobi was extremely pleased with his invention. Another scientist named Ivan genetically modified the watermelon with wheat and planted 1000 watermelon reeds. Each watermelon reed grew 3 feet high and had about ten football-sized watermelons hanging off it. The mayor was extremely pleased. He said,” Both of you have done well, but there is only one mansion.” The two scientists argued about whose invention was better, at last, they decided to let the public decide which invention was better. The next day, the civilians of Diamond Ville gathered in the market square to decide which invention was better. Some civilians thought Gobi`s invention was better because it could let them keep on trading precious minerals for food, but some civilians thought that the watermelon reeds could let them produce food themselves so they could keep the precious minerals for themselves. The mayor liked Gobi`s invention better so the civilians who thought Ivan`s invention was better made a plan to make the traders stop trading with them so the mayor would have to use Ivan`s invention. The civilians crept to the local inns and beat up the merchants; the merchants and traders left hastily and swore to never come back to Diamond Ville. The civilians cheered at the sight of the leaving traders and merchants. The next day, no merchants showed up at the market, the same thing happened for three days. The civilians who supported Gobi suspected Ivan had done something wrong. One of the civilians decided to investigate and after questioning innkeepers, he found that the civilians who supported Ivan had chased the merchants away. He shared the information with other civilians and they decided to poison most of the watermelon reeds. At midnight, a silent mob of civilians crept into Ivan`s greenhouse and used rat poison to poison the watermelon reeds. At daybreak the next morning, Ivan walked into his greenhouse to find all of his precious plants dead. He swore revenge on Gobi (he didn`t know it was the civilians.). Later that day, he bought a screwdriver from a shop. At twilight, he crept into Gobi`s workshop and used a screwdriver to dismantle the ray gun. As Ivan crept in from the windows, he thought of how he would destroy the ray gun. He could just unscrew everything and throw it away or he could steal the whole ray gun and abandon it in the desert outside the city. He decided to unscrew the ray gun and hide the vital parts in Gobi`s rubbish bin. Ivan crept out of the room as quietly as he had crept in. Gobi walked with long strides into his laboratory and tried to turn on the lights, nothing happened. Gobi found a torch on a workbench and to his horror, he saw that Ivan had torn out every wire in the lab before he had left Gobi`s laboratory and crushed the ray gun until it was as thin as a pancake. Gobi thought calmly why Ivan would destroy his lab and his ray gun. The more he thought, the more he realized that someone must have done something to Ivan and Ivan must have thought that he was the culprit. Gobi decided to investigate. He found out (from a beggar for a piece of bread) that a group of civilians had killed most of Ivan`s plants. On that same day, the mayor decided to start turning rubbish into precious minerals. He sent a messenger to Gobi`s house and the messenger found that Ivan had destroyed Gobi`s ray gun so the mayor sent Ivan to jail for five years. The mayor also called Gobi to fix his ray gun and get it ready before the day after tomorrow. Gobi agreed and due to work, Gobi forgot about Ivan. Ivan and Gobi worked day and night, one trying to get out of prison, one trying to fix his ray gun. On the day of the transformation of rubbish into gold, Ivan`s personal assistant Igor snuck into jail and freed Ivan from the prison cell. Igor passed Ivan a rifle and told him to escape. When Ivan was running through the streets, the sight of Gobi holding his ray gun to the rubbish made Ivan angry so he decided to shoot Gobi. Ivan was trembling with excitement when he shot so he accidentally shot the button on the ray gun which changed the setting to sand. Because of this, the gun accidentally changed the whole city to sand instead of just the pile of rubbish. Everyone panicked when they saw their homes, their cars and property, their clothes, all turn to sand… Gobi was blamed for this major crisis, he tried to turn everything back to normal with his ray gun but a sudden sandstorm blew away his gun. The civilians of Diamond Ville all became Nomadic people, they wander around in the desert, trying to find Gobi`s ray gun and find a place to construct the new Diamond Ville. The desert was named after Gobi for his terrible mistake. The Nomadic people are still trying to find Gobi`s gun. Till today, the Nomadic people are still looking… Lost But Found Pui Kiu College, Thomas Chung Chit Ming, Fiction: Group 2

here was once a child called Fu, his mother and he lived in a little wooden shabby house with little furniture in it. In winter, they suffered in cold, his mother was a babysitter in Mongolia, who often came home very late, when the moon was high in the sky, but when it was night, his mother would sing a song and tell a story until Fredrick dropped off to Tsleep. Although the story was the same every night, he never found it boring. “Son, do you know that your great grandfather was once a wealthy and rich person?” “Oh really? Tell me about him!’’ “Your grandfather was once a banker, just in one month, your great grandfather could already buy ten tons of gold, but he never revealed his identity to anyone. One day, he was drunk and accidentally revealed his true identity to his least trusted friend, Pui. Of course, Pui loved money, so that night, just one night, he tried to assassinate him twice. But he did not succeed, and when Pui made a third attempt, he knew that he could not escape from Pui.” “What happened then?” Fu asked eagerly. “Your great grandfather moved from time to time, but Pui kept following him. So he decided to bury all his money in the Gobi desert.’’ “Why didn’t he put it in the bank where it is safe?” “Oh son, if Pui can break through your great grandfather’s home to assassinate him, then of course he can break into the bank. Son, until now, all the men in our family tried to find the treasure, but no one has succeeded, that was also how your father died. ” The next day at school, Fu told his friends what his mother had told him the day before, but unfortunately, the story ended up in the school’s big bully’s ears. “Your great grandfather was a rich man? Stop trying to make something up to show that you are ‘rich men.’ Instead, why don’t you tell us something about your daily life so that we can know how poor you are?” laughed Ling. “Take it back, Ling,” said Wai, Fu’s friend, “I don’t find that you are very rich.” Now Fu really wanted to punch this big bully. In Fu’s mind, Ling was always picking on someone who was not as wealthy and rich as he was. But the truth was that Ling was also very poor, he just wanted a reason to bully the weaker students in the school. Then Fu asked his friends if they wanted to sneak up at night and go to the Gobi desert to find the treasure; his friends agreed that they would go, so Fu told them where to meet, what to pack, and most important of all – he promised to share the money with them. So at midnight, Fu crept though the door, horrified by the sound which the door made when it opened. It was a very silent and peaceful night, and Fu was delighted, because usually some drunks would come out and use wine bottles to hit people just for fun. When he got to the desert, his friends were already waiting for him. They all looked chubby in their many layers of clothes because the Gobi desert was just too cold for thin clothes. According to his mum, his grandfather had frozen to death after one night in that desert, so of course he had warned his friends to bring more clothes. The boys travelled for a long time. Within a week, they found the cave easily but one of his friends, Seng, got sick, “I know I shouldn’t have touched that green slime, now it is making me sick!” In two days his body began to boil and his skin became transparent. It was so bad that Wai, the other friend of Fu’s, was terrified by the look of Seng and ran away that day. But then, Fu remembered something his teacher had said in Biology class. His teacher said that the cure should be very close to the poison. So Fu tried to go near the poison to find the cure and get it, but when he finally found it, he couldn’t go near it, a strange force pushed him away. So Fu went outside to catch animals so they could still live there until he found the cure. Seng begged Fu to leave him and continue the search for the treasure. But Fu wouldn’t do that, he had seen too many people die of sickness already, so if he could help, he would help. So he went hunting for food but there was no food to be found. So he decided to go back to the cave and to see if Seng felt better. As time passed, his friend was healed and Seng was very thankful to Fu for what he had done. Again, they decided to look for the treasure together, but unfortunately, Seng, who never had luck, fell into a trap that Fu’s great grandfather had made and a sign appeared, “Treasure or Friend, only one” and a stop watch screen appeared - “One Minute” It marked. Fu’s first thought was, “Get the treasure and just go away, leave Seng here, so my descendants and my family could become wealthy and rich once again.” But if he took the treasure and went away, then Seng would die, in a way which was really horrid. Which one is better, friendship or wealth? Then Fu remembered another story his mum had told him, “There was once a wealthy and rich man, he was so rich that he could buy anything in the world, gold, diamonds, and jewels, but he had no friends. One day, he finally felt bored, so he came to the town to buy a friend, but no matter how many friends he bought, none of them was truly his friend, none of his friends loved him and none of his friends cared about him. So, Fu, bear this in your mind: even a rich man can’t buy friendship.” So Fu pulled Seng out of the cave and together they realized that friendship was more important than treasure. And together, they walked away from the treasure but at the same time. Fu knew that it was a pity that the treasure was lost, but his mum would be proud of what he had found - not gold, jewels and diamonds but friendship. Seeing Fu and Seng again at school, Wai asked “Did you get the treasure?” Seng and Fu looked at each other and gave a mysterious smile. The Six Pools of The Gobi Desert Pui Kiu College, Charmaine Wong, Fiction: Group 2

At College

“Charmaine, Selena, Jessie, please report to the principal’s office!” This is Pui Pui Magic College, a place where girls learn magic and go through quests to build up their confidence and team spirit. When the students are told to enter the principal’s office, it means that there is a quest awaiting them. “Come in, girls,” the headmistress called them in. “Good morning, Headmistress,” the girls greeted her. “Take a seat, girls. Have you heard about the Gobi desert before?” “Yes, we have,” they replied simultaneously. “I suppose you don’t know that there are six pools at the very center of the Gobi desert.” The girls shook their heads, looking puzzled. “The six pools are called : Desire, Kindness, Happiness, Peace, Beauty and Money. Since bullying is quite common in this school lately, we’ll need the water from the Kindness, Happiness and Peace pools to help us. However, the other pools will try to stop you and lure you to them instead.” “How?” Charmaine asked. “They’ll show images of whatever you desire. Among them, the Desire pool is the hardest to resist.” “What would happen in case I touch the water from the forbidden pools?” asked Jessie. “They would drown you.” “Oh! It’s ghastly!” Selena exclaimed. The headmistress then murmured a spell. A portal soon appeared. “This is the portal to the Gobi Desert. You have one hour to complete the mission. Are you all ready?” she asked. “Yes, we’re!” answered the girls. “Good luck!” The girls nodded, then walked into the portal.

In the Gobi Desert

“Where are we?” “Look! A fennec fox!” Selena exclaimed as a fennec fox dashed by on a sand dune. “Does that mean...we’re at the Gobi desert?” Jessie looked around. “Okay! Let’s get going!” Charmaine suggested. The sun shone vigorously in the air, scorching the earth with its rays. “I’m exhausted. I… need…wa…ter!” Selena said impatiently because they had been walking for thirty minutes already, and there was still no sign of the pools. “Be patient!” said Charmaine. “I’m tired too!” “Hey, stop complaining!” chided Jessie. “Remember last time when we went to a cave to find the life gem? We sang ‘Count On Me’ to beat our fears? Let’s sing ‘Count On Me’ to beat the heat!” So they sang all the way until Charmaine saw six round pools in the distance. “Hey! Aren’t those what we’re looking for?” “Let’s take a look,” said Jessie. So they ran and finally they got there! First, they approached the Beauty pool. Charmaine peeped in and saw her reflected image. Her teeth brace was gone, her eyes became bigger, and her pimples disappeared! She was delighted as she had never looked so beautiful and charming. However, her friends behind her looked so ugly ! Horrified, she realized they had given her all their beauty; and she quickly looked away from the pool. She was scared, yet she didn’t tell anyone. Afterward, they approached the Money pool. Selena curiously peeped in. She saw herself whirling around in a pretty dress with lots of dazzling jewelry. She was thrilled. When Selena’s father died a few years ago, her mother worked hard to make ends meet. Hence, their lives weren’t as plentiful as before. But then she saw her friends in the water. They were thin and dirty, and their clothes were torn badly. Distressed, she quickly moved her gaze away from the pool. Though she didn’t understand, she hate to see her friends suffer. At this moment, Jessie cried out, “Who wants to take water from the Happiness pool?” “Me!” Charmaine and Selena answered simultaneously. They deemed that they would have a much happier life if they took water from that pool. “You’re always mean!” said Charmaine to Selena. “You should get water from the Kindness pool!” “No way!” Selena shouted. “Peace is never here when you’re around! So you should get the water from the Peace pool!” “Stop arguing!!” shouted Jessie. “We’ve only got five minutes left! Listen to me. I’ll go get the water from Happiness pool. Charmaine gets the water from the Peace pool. And Selena gets water from the Kindness pool.” Both girls unwillingly obeyed. After pouring the water into a bottle, Selena saw something she always wanted - a pet hummingbird flying over the Desire pool. Everyone except Selena in Pui Pui Magic College has pets like Pomeranian, Siamese, or even beetles. Selena is envious of the students who have pets . As she was reaching out to grab the bird, the pool turned black and started engulfing Selena. “Help!!!!” she cried out. Having just retrieved the water from the Peace and Happiness pools, Charmaine and Jessie heard Selena yelling for help, so they rushed towards her. Upon seeing what was happening, they were terror-stricken. They began tugging on her arms to pull her out of the sucking pool. “This is the water from the Kindness pool,” said Selena. “Take it and complete the quest. Now let go of me!” “No way we’re going to let go,” they said. “We’re friends! We’d rather die with you.” Suddenly, a bubble picked the trio up and a voice spoke. “Your friendship has moved me.” it said. “I am the spirit of the Desire pool. I have never seen such deep friendship among people. I will not drown you. This bubble will take you to where you belong.” “Thanks!” they cried as they floated back to school peacefully. At College Back at school, the headmistress praised the girls by saying, “Well done, Selena and Charmaine! You had resisted the temptation of the Beauty and Money pools. Your friendship also broke the spell of the Desire pool. Thanks for bringing three bottles of water here and helping the school. Do you know that you have a reward already?” “What is it?” They asked. “Your reward is that you now understand that Money, Beauty and Desire will not make you happy but lonely. The world’s most important thing is love and friendship.” The girls felt that they knew one another better and, more importantly, their friendship was deeper than ever. The Curse of the Sacred Sword Pui Kiu College, Jake Yeung Chi Kit, Fiction: Group 2

his tale happened a long time ago, when the long-forgotten Gobi forest wasn’t a desert yet. “Oh my!” cried the filthy man with mud all over his face. He was covered in wounds and scratches, he had travelled in the forest for a long time. This man was Wong Guan and he was now standing inside the Temple Of Gold and indeed, pounds and pounds of Tgold were shining before his eyes. He took as much of the treasure he could take, but while he was taking the gold he saw a sword floating a little bit above the pile of gold. Wong Guan had never seen a sword so beautiful and decided to take it away. When his hand nearly grabbed the handle, red words suddenly appeared on the blade. “This is the sacred sword of the temple, who and which shall touch it will bring an awful curse until his death.” Wong Guan never believed in curses, he ignored the curse and grabbed the handle of the sword. He put it in his super-big and filled-with-gold backpack. Then, the blade of the sword glowed red. Thirty years later in the middle of the northern borders of the Xia dynasty, Wong Dong was standing on the walls of the northern defenses of his country. He was the son of Wong Guan and his father’s wealth had given him the rank of General of the Jin army. However, while he was appreciating his important rank in the army, he remembered the tragedy of his “unlucky” father. His father was always sorrowful and sad, and unlucky things often happened to him. For example, a snake fell on his head while he was eating supper one fateful night. His father had also died at an early age, about 30 years old, two years after his mysterious exploration which made him wealthy. Wong Dong walked down the walls and went to his tent where he rested. He looked at the box in the corner of his tent. Inside was the sword of his father. He again remembered the last words of his father: “Never touch this sword, my son.” He looked at the box again and realized it was now battered and old and its colors also faded. Wong Dong opened the box and looked at the sword, he was astounded by its beauty and also decided to hold it for a while. Then, he saw the red words on the blade: “This is the sacred sword of the temple, who shall touch it will bring an awful curse until his death.” His father’s last words also swarmed into his head. Wong Dong ignored the curse and thought this was all his father’s idea to make the sword belong to him forever. Although he wondered for a while how words suddenly appeared on the blade, he still decided to hold the sword for a while. As he grabbed the handle, the blade suddenly glowed red. “The rebels!” cried the soldier from the watchtower. Wong Dong quickly ran to the command tower with the sword in his hands. “Archers, fire at the first line of the advancing army!” commanded Wong Dong. But strangely, his archers all missed their targets and the rebel army was already on the walls killing the archers and destroying the walls. Wong Dong quickly realized defeat; he took some supplies and weapons (including the sacred sword), got on a horse and escaped from the battle. He rode and rode (unaware where he was heading) until he was tired and needed a rest. He then found out he was in the middle of a forest. “I travelled north, I must be in the Gobi forest!” said Wong Dong to himself. He took out the sword which once belonged to his father and observed it, then again, the blade turned red. Water and waves charged towards him. “What? Waves in the forest?” thought Wong Dong. He dodged the waves just in time. However, the waves drowned the horse along with the supplies, and Wong Dong was now only left with the sword. He travelled south and had no idea how he was going to survive. He just hoped he would meet a black-tailed gazelle which he knew lived in the Gobi forest. Then, he saw the blade of the sword glowing red. Ten angry wolves suddenly appeared and surrounded him. Their eyes focused on his fresh meat. The wolves attacked and immediately his face was covered with wounds and blood. His armor was what saved him from death. He used the sword in his hands and chopped off one of the wolves’ heads. Then another and another… After the wolves were all killed, Wong Dong, who was very hungry, searched for meat under the wolves’ skin. But strangely, there was no meat in the wolves’ bodies - only bones! Wong Dong sat on a rock and looked at the sword. The curse and his father’s words flashed back into his head. The curse was real! Wong Dong decided to throw the sword as far away as he could, but the sword, which knew what he was thinking, made words appear on the blade again: “To break the curse, you must return the sword to its home, The Temple of Gold.” The blade suddenly turned to the direction west by itself. Wong Dong quickly followed the directions. After one day and one night of following the directions of the sword, he finally reached the temple. The doors of the temple were opened as though the temple knew he would arrive. But when he was just about a hundred metres from the doors of the temple, the blade turned red once again. “Oh no!” cried Wong Dong, he knew something unlucky would happen a few seconds later, probably his death. Then he thought of an idea, he threw the sword and hoped it would land in the temple. But instead going into the temple, it hit the walls of the temple. The temple’s walls cracked and with its heavy gold, the entire structure crashed down to the earth. Wong Dong was crushed to death by the walls and the sword fell on the Gobi land. Its blade glowed red. Nothing ever grew in the Gobi forest again… That was the main reason the Gobi forest became the Gobi desert and the pounds of gold from the temple became the large gold deposits located at Oyuu Tolgoi now. The story of Commetoon Ring & the Gobi Pui Kiu College, Jacky Yuen Ka Him, Fiction: Group 2

ong, long time ago, the place known as the Gobi desert now was not called “the Gobi desert.” The place was called “the Gobi.” It was also not a desert then. It was a very busy city, just like Hong Kong. So, what turned it from a busy city to a desert? It was the year 1955. Bob was in the shopping mall with his friend, Timothy. They Lhad entered a fast food restaurant and had ordered two double burgers. They had a happy lunch and were about to leave. Then, they heard a banging sound. It was very loud and it came from the middle of the restaurant. It sounded like many guns shooting. Suddenly, the floor split into half-- -a neat half that looked like it was being sliced by a knife. A man who had green hair, blue teeth and a red moustache flew out from the gap and stopped, hovering in the air. “Good mocking, lammies and genlemen,” said the person in a funny accent. “I am a person from brron 2174. I have travm here by the Franconis machine. I have been watching you all from the Franconis machine’s wakking tomer. I have come to give you all a prewesent. It is the commetoon ring. It can commetoon and make it come true.” Then, looking at the people’s puzzled faces, he said, “Oops! I forgot to push the translation button!” He took out a thing that looked like a mini remote control with many buttons and started pushing them. After about half a minute, he looked up and started to speak. This time, when he opened his mouth, he spoke in a robot’s voice. The speech went like this: “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am a person from year 2174. I have travelled here by what you call “the time machine.” I have been watching you all from the time machine’s screen. I have come to give you all a present. It is the commetoon ring, or what you call “the wishing ring.” It can make your wishes come true.” He took out a little ring and handed it to the closest person, Bob. Then, he told Bob to wear the ring and say a wish. Bob said, “I wish to have ten thousand dollars ---- all in coins!” Immediately, many stacks of coins appeared in front of him. Then, the man said, “Sorry, I have to go, see you later!” This caused many people to invite him to take a taxi or to ride in their cars in order to get a commetoon ring too. But it turned out that he did not need any taxis or cars to get back to his time. He just said, “No thanks, bye!” Then he lowered himself back into the gap in the floor. When his whole body was in the gap, the gap immediately resealed itself as though it had never been sliced open before. Back home, Bob was examining his new ring. He had already asked for many wishes, for example, finishing all his homework, getting a brand new car, getting the toy he had always wanted, a super-duper Lego superman. He also wished for a lot of money, something like a trillion dollars. He had become very wealthy and he had quit school. “What’s the purpose of learning when you have money?” he said. Many people were jealous of his money and hated him for his wealth. He was very proud of his wealth and was starting to make enemies everywhere. But he didn’t care. He was too wealthy. He was no longer afraid of anything. Two days later, he already had a castle, ten muscular bodyguards and everyone as his enemy. Even Timothy, his best friend, hated him now. But Bob just simply said, “Why would you need friends when you’re so wealthy?” A week later, the government decided that Bob had too much. The government put up a poster that said: “Anyone who could steal the commetoon ring from Bob would get a reward of ten thousand dollars.” Of course, many people tried ------and failed. Then, the famous robber, the Jingling Jack, stole Bob’s ring while he was in another room. Slowly, because he was not able to make any more wishes, Bob began to get poor. No one wanted to help him, not even his ex-best friend, Timothy. Because of the loss of the ring, Bob turned from a wealthy person to a really poor person to a beggar. At the same time, the Jingling Jack was rewarded ten thousand dollars by the government. All the citizens were happy because Bob was poor now and the government was now in-charge of the commetoon ring. But they were immediately disappointed. Now the government had the commetoon ring, they had all the power. They could do anything they wanted. They could turn everyone into slaves. They could rule the whole world, even the whole universe. Just as the people feared, the government became very greedy. They all turned themselves into wealthy people. The citizens began to have a hard life. The government of the Gobi now ruled the world. They had the ability to answer very hard scientific and mathematical questions. And, in order for the government of the Gobi to be able to answer the question, do aliens exist? They used the commetoon ring to summon aliens if they exist. Then, after granting the wish, all the aliens in the whole universe erupted out from the same spot. At that time, the aliens had advanced technology. They had some really advanced guns and shields. When they found out that they were on planet Earth, they tried to invade it. The people at that time did not have such advanced technology. They could not defend themselves. The government’s only hope was the commetoon ring. They wished for the banishment of the aliens and the aliens vanished. But, as their wish was granted, they heard a low humming noise they had never heard before. There was something wrong with the ring. The minute the wish was granted, the ring vanished. And, from then on, not a drop of water fell from the skies of the Gobi. And the Gobi became the Gobi desert. The Craziest Experience Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Ivan Chan, Fiction: Group 2

ast year, I went to the Gobi Desert. I felt excited and happy about my trip. I had always wanted to go there to learn more about the weather, the animals and the sand dune of the Gobi Desert. I got there by helicopter. After landing, the first thing I wanted to see was the beautiful sunrise because I had heard it was wonderful. When I saw the desert for the Lfirst time, I was stunned at the size. It was so huge! While walking around the desert under the big hot sun, I saw some dangerous cactuses. Suddenly, I saw some snakes slithering towards me. I felt scared and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily, I had remembered to pack a knife in case of danger. I opened my bag, took out the knife and threw it at the snakes. I thanked my lucky stars I had remembered to bring a knife as it may have saved my life. I felt very tired after that and decided to rest for a while. The next morning I set off, ready to begin my amazing adventure into the Gobi Desert again. I was walking on the cool sand at night trying to find my family, when all of a sudden I looked up into the sky and saw a huge flying desert pirate ship. It was black and ugly. As it moved closer towards me, I felt a high level of danger. I was scared because I was afraid the pirates would come catch me. I quickly laid down and covered my whole body with sand to hide from the pirates. After a few minutes, the pirate ship flew away. I was safe for now. At that moment I knew this was going to be an amazing adventure. I stood up and kept walking, looking for my lost family. From out of nowhere, the pirate ship came again. It was headed right for me and coming fast. Just when I was about to give up all hope of escaping, the most amazing thing happened. All of a sudden, a bright light appeared in front of me. It was growing stronger and stronger. I was as blind as a bat. I couldn’t see anything. I was so shocked. I reached out my hands and yelled for help, but no one was there. Then I heard a strange sound. It was the sound of the pirates coming to get me. I knew this would be the end of me. Finally, I could see again and I was back home. I never found out what the strange light was or why it appeared in front of me. I am so excited I got to have this experience and I want to go back and do it all over again. I will never forget this trip for as long as I live. Gobi Pirates Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Enson Lam, Fiction: Group 2

ast month, my family and I went to the Gobi Desert. I was feeling excited because I had never been to a desert before. I had always wanted to go to the Gobi because I knew it would be very beautiful. I arrived there by an old, ugly and non-air-conditioned plane. The plane ride was boring and hot. I couldn’t believe it reached fifty degrees Celsius. The LGobi had the most wonderful night scenery I had ever seen. Walking under the hot sun, I saw lots of snakes and many cactuses. As I was enjoying the view, all of a sudden, a big scary Mongolian desert worm came up from the sand and bit me on the toe. It was painful and scary. Luckily, I had remembered to bring a band-aid. I felt so thankful for my smart packing. My family and I were walking around in the middle of the desert looking for more water before the sunrise, when all of a sudden, a very frightening desert pirate came walking towards us fast. He looked scary as he was getting closer. He had a scar on his face and his clothes were ugly and worn to tatters. I was very scared. I had never seen anything that frightening before in my life. I turned to my family whose faces were white in fear. Our hearts were beating fast and our legs were shaking. Suddenly, the desert pirate came right up to me and looked at my face. At that moment, I knew I was going to die. I knew the desert pirate was going to kill me and my family. Just when I was about to give up all hope of living to see my friends ever again, the most amazing thing happened. The scary pirate held out his hand and asked to be my friend. I was amazed to make friends with the scary pirate. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the pirate held out his hand. We travelled around the desert together. He showed me his hidden treasure map and I met his pirate friends. However, the pirate was really a cruel and awful man. He wanted to trick me. While I was looking at his treasure map, he tried to grab me. Luckily, I saw him and was able to get away. He yelled angrily. At that moment, I knew I needed to stop believing everyone is good and I must be careful when making friends. I woke up with a start. At that moment, I realized it was all just a dream. I am so glad I got to have this adventure, but I would never go back there again. I will never forget this exciting and scary journey for as long as I live. Chocolate Gobi Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Rebecca Lau, Fiction: Group 2

iss Cheng and I went to the Gobi Desert last weekend. We were feeling happy about our trip. I had always wanted to take a ride on a camel. We arrived by plane after a one hour flight. The Gobi Desert was fun! I couldn’t believe how hot and dry the air was. It was the most amazing sight I had ever seen. Suddenly, I saw a humongous Msnake. It bit me on my leg and I tripped over a rock and fell on a cactus. It was very painful. I was very afraid of the snake too. I put some band-aids on my wounds. I felt sad because I had fallen on a cactus but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my trip. And so I set off, ready to begin my amazing adventure into the Gobi desert. I was crying for over an hour in the middle is the desert because I was so afraid a snake would bite me, when all of a sudden, a big school appeared in front of me. I was very surprised! It was the most wonderful school I had ever seen. It had six floors and was made completely from tasty chocolate. I was very excited. My heart was beating very fast as I moved closer to the school. I couldn’t wait to see if there were any teachers inside. I started to run towards the school to taste the chocolate. It was delicious! I walked into the school to look around. I saw the teachers were also made of chocolate. Something was strange. None of the teachers could talk. Just when I was about to start my long journey home, the most amazing thing happened. The chocolate teachers started to give me homework. I was so angry because the homework was for kindergarteners and I was on holiday. However, to my surprise, the homework was made of chocolate. I decided I didn’t want to do kindergarten homework, even if it was made of chocolate, so I started to run away. The teachers started to chase me and so I hid behind a dune. I thought the teachers were going to find me for sure and drag me back to the classroom, but they didn’t catch me. They melted. I was safe at last. The Desert Dream Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Steven Leung, Fiction: Group 2

went to the Gobi Desert last Christmas holiday. I was very excited but I was also a little scared to be alone in the desert because I knew it was sometimes dangerous. I had always wanted to go there and take some photos. I arrived there by airplane. On the ground, the first thing I noticed was how big the sun looked and the enormous amount of sand everywhere. I Iwas very amazed. The desert was full of sand and cactus. I was running around in the desert when all of a sudden; I saw a group of snakes. I felt scared at first but luckily I remembered I had some grenades in my bag, left over from my military training camp. I threw some grenades at the snakes. With a huge blast, snakes flew into the sky. I didn’t worry about snakes after that. In the end, I felt very thankful for my military training and my grenades because in the end, they saved my life. And so I set off again, ready to begin my amazing adventure into the Gobi Desert. I was walking on a giant sand dune at the hottest time of the day. I wanted to find some people to help me because I was thirsty and hungry. When all of a sudden, a giant sandcastle rose up from out of the sand. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen in my life. The sandcastle was gigantic. It had different colors all over its walls. I was very surprised. It was perfect as if it was created by God. I decided to walk inside. There were a lot of terrifying weapons hanging along the entrance. Just then, I saw some people. They didn’t look very friendly. I wanted to run away, but they saw me. I think they wanted to kill me. Luckily, I got away. At that moment I knew if I didn’t keep running, those sand people would catch and kill me. Just when I was about to give up all hope of escaping from the sand people, the most amazing thing happened. As I was running for my life, suddenly everything started changing. I saw something green flash in my eyes and then a tree appeared right in front of me. I stopped running and discovered to my shock I was in a great forest. I couldn’t believe my eyes because I knew there was no way a forest could be growing in the middle of a desert. I started to explore. The forest was so big, I couldn’t go around it. Suddenly, I saw a fairy. I was surprised. The fairy was as small as a firefly and was glowing. I started walking towards the fairy when I noticed a magic door. There was a bright light shining from behind the door. I looked around but the fairy was gone. I decided to close my eyes and open the door. I walked through the doorway. When I opened my eyes, I discovered I was on my bed. The whole thing had been a dream. I couldn’t believe it, everything had felt so true. I knew I would have another magic adventure to the desert again soon. Going to the Gobi Desert was the most exciting trip I have ever been on. I am so happy I got to have this experience and I want to go back for my next holiday. I will never forget this trip. City World Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Raymond Li, Fiction: Group 2

went to the Gobi Desert by myself last month. I was feeling excited about my first trip into the mysterious desert. I had always wanted to go there to see the amazing creatures of the desert. I couldn’t wait to see camels, lizards and desert snakes. I also wanted to take photos to share with my parents and friends. IFirst, I took a plane from Hong Kong to China and then drove the rest of the way to the desert in my jeep. On arrival, I threw up my hands and jumped around like a monkey. I couldn’t believe I was finally in the desert. It was the largest and most beautiful place I had ever seen. Travelling around in my jeep, I saw cactuses, camels, lizards and of course many sand dunes. I had just climbed to the top of a large sand dune to admire the amazing view, when suddenly a scary snake came slithering towards me. I was so scared. Luckily, I had a long walking stick with me. I thanked my lucky stars because no one told me what I should bring. I held up the stick and waved it back and forth as quick I could until I scared the snake away. I set off again, ready to begin my amazing adventure into the Gobi Desert. I was walking blindly into the middle of the desert trying to find the way back in which I had come when the sun started to rise. Just then, I heard a strange beeping sound when all of a sudden, I slipped and fell. There was a picture in front of me. It was a strange, large picture. There were also some old pictures of different cities from around the world. London, New York, Madrid, Beijing and Hong Kong were all there. I was confused because there was also a picture of somewhere in the desert. I walked around it and found a gold button in the middle of the desert picture. I pressed the button and the desert picture burst into a large desert city. I was amazed and walked into this new city world. Tall buildings and shopping centers were everywhere. I could also see the London Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Great Wall of China. I travelled around the entire day. Yet there was something very strange about this place. There was no way to leave this strange new city world. At that moment, I knew if I didn’t find anyone to get me out of this city world, I would be trapped forever and never see home again. I looked around for someone to ask, but it was just another nail in my coffin, the city was totally empty. Just when I was about to give up all hope of ever escaping from this alien world, the most amazing thing happened. I saw a shadow of a human coming towards me. It was my smart friend from my class. I couldn’t believe my eyes because he was the only person I had seen in this entire place. I was very surprised to see him and he was just as surprised to see me. We greeted and hugged. I asked him if he had found the way out of this strange city. He told me I had to stand in the middle of the city for one minute. I asked him how and why he was in this alien city, but before he could answer, he disappeared. I was even more confused now, but I started to make my way into the middle of the city as he had told me. After a while, a strange light appeared and took me out of the city. I found a letter addressed to me on the ground. As I read it, I came to understand that my ‘friend’ was really the guardian of the alien city world. The being could turn into anyone and helped people who got lost. The letter was attached to a magic flying carpet which I used to get out of the desert and fly back home. Going to the Gobi Desert was the most exciting journey I have ever been on. Although there was a lot of danger, I want to go back again to find out more about my alien friend. Next time, I think I’ll bring my family along. I truly won’t forget this trip for as long as I live. The Unforgettable Experience In the Desert Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Primary School, Kay Ng, Fiction: Group 2

had an unforgettable experience last year. My teacher Miss Mak and I went to the Gobi Desert. I was happy because this was the first time Miss Mak and I had visited the Gobi Desert. We were feeling very excited about our trip. I had always wanted to take a ride on a camel. We arrived by plane after a one hour flight from Hong Kong. When I arrived, I felt Ishocked at the size of the place. I was very tired because I had to walk for a long time. I had never imagined the desert was this big. I couldn’t guess how much sand there was. I couldn’t see any mountains or oceans, just sand dune after sand dune. We did see a humongous snake slithering on the sand towards us. We threw some of our food at it because we were afraid it would bite us. We fed it until it went away, which was lucky because it was poisonous. I was so thankful it didn’t bite me. My dad had asked me to take along a lot of food and water for the trip. I never thought I would have to use it to protect myself. Miss Mak and I were sitting on the sand. I felt very hot. In the afternoon, we had gone to look for some water because we were very thirsty. All of a sudden, I saw a king cobra appear on the sand right in front of me. It was strong and black. It was really dangerous and I’m sure it wanted to eat me. I was very frightened. I had never felt this frightened before in my life. I turned to Miss Mak who was trembling. I knew I must be brave. I grabbed my knife and killed the cobra. At that moment, I knew that we couldn’t stay in the desert any longer. It was too dangerous. We gathered our things and made our way out of the desert. Going to the Gobi Desert was the most exciting trip I have ever been on. I am so lucky. I got to have this unforgettable experience and I bravely want to go back and do it all over again. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Regents Primary School of Shenzhen, Treasa Jiang, Fiction: Group 2

he Gobi Desert is the fifth largest desert in the world and occupies an area of 1,300,000 km2. It is indeed, a magnificent wonder and a notable part in history. However, the Gobi Desert was once a fascinating city. It used to be one of the biggest and most beautiful cities of China. People from all over the world came to visit the Gobi Tcity. Dealers traded they’re goods. The people danced and sang from day to night. The city was always filled with laughter. The people were overjoyed with their new found wealth. They did not realize that they were trapped in the city, and as soon as they tried to get out, something terrible would happen. And this is how it started. It was a hot summer’s day, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Jasmine, a pretty little girl who just moved to the Gobi city with her parents, was wandering around a small village on the edge of the city. Her parents were doing business on the market, far too busy to take any notice of her. Jasmine didn’t mind. She picked a bunch of daisies and tulips, trying to decide which one were the prettiest. She ran across the wooden bridge, chasing the butterflies. She sat down beside the small pond dipping her feet into the water, or sometimes playing with the ducks. She was quite happy by herself. Suddenly, a small figure dashed across, caught Jasmine’s eye. She followed it, and soon spotted a furry little rabbit looking up at her. The rabbit was brown with grey patches. When Jasmine kneeled down to pet the rabbit, it turned and ran away immediately. Jasmine knew her mother warned her not to run away, for it was dangerous and she could get lost or tricked easily. But Jasmine wanted to catch that rabbit. The rabbit ran down a sandy path that led into a forest. Jasmine followed it. The rabbit hopped over a tree stump, crawled into a log and ran down a grassy hill. At one point, the rabbit slowed down to sniff some wild flowers. Jasmine saw her chance, but the rabbit was too fast. Jasmine fell down and hurt herself. With a big purple-green bruise on her left leg, Jasmine could no longer catch up with the rabbit. She looked around---and surprisingly realized that she was lost. Nothing looked familiar. Jasmine began to panic. Why hadn’t she listened to her mother? What will she do? She should have listened to her mother. As these different thoughts ran through Jasmine’s mind, she sat down on a rock and began to cry. Jasmine felt lonely, desperate and helpless. She leaned on the rock and closed her eyes. A strange growling sound made her reopen them again. There was that sound again. Jasmine jumped up. A big, angry looking brown bear emerged from the shadows. Jasmine stepped back and ran away as fast as she could. When the bear was finally out of sight, Jasmine stopped to catch her breath. She was exhausted, hungry and tired. She lay her hand on her head and soon fell asleep. Jasmine woke up with a start. The rabbit that she had been chasing earlier was rubbing its wet nose against her cheek. Jasmine stood up slowly. The rabbit didn’t run away, it took a step forward. It wanted Jasmine to follow it. Jasmine followed the rabbit and soon found herself standing on the sandy path that she had ran along earlier when she was chasing the rabbit. She pushed back the tree leaves--- and stopped dead in her tracks. Instead of a bustling city, Jasmine saw a huge, endless desert. The city had disappeared. Sand was flying everywhere. A camel train passed through walking further and further, slowly disappearing into the distance. Jasmine turned around--- and saw that the rabbit, along with the whole forest, had turned into sand. The Gobi city turned into the Gobi desert. Today, the Gobi desert is the location of several important cities along the Silk Road. New Tales of the Gobi Desert The Gobi Pyramid Regents Primary School of Shenzhen, Daniel Shen, Fiction: Group 2

t was the year 2100. Everything was peaceful and normal until one day horrified tourists realized the pyramids from Sahara disappeared as if it turned into thin air. Authorities immediately began investigation, but there was no progress. Years passed, and slowly people began to forget about the mystery. IFive years later a police officer who has returned from service went vacationing in the mighty Gobi desert. He was planning to stay for a few days. One day while he was minding his own business, he spotted a tiny peak poking from a sand dune in the distance. The next day he went off to investigate. After hours of driving, he finally reached his final destination, and what appeared made him gasp in horror. The peak turned out to be the pyramid and a UFO was hovering right above it. It’s too late to radio for reinforcements, so there is only one available plan for him: Investigate all by himself. As the officer approached the structure, he realized an obvious problem: the pyramid had no entrance. He drove circles around it, and so far, no progress. He got out of his jeep and went to rest on a stone brick. Suddenly there was an awful screeching, and BOOM the walls behind him crumbled, and he fell right into the pitch darkness. That’s the last thing he remembered before he blacked out. Moments later he woke up to find him in a wide passage lit by torches. He continued through until he got to an empty room. The cop felt a chill run along his spine. “Something is strange about the room” he thought. He decided to throw something inside first to trigger off any booby traps. He found a tiny pebble on the floor and chucked it. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!! In the blink of an eye the pebble turned into a pile of ashes. The officer’s face turned pale. He peeked through the edge of the wall into the room, and he could clearly see a transparent semi- sphere object. A laser projector! But how did the ancient pharaohs set up such a powerful trap? The mystery is getting even more puzzling. He then came up with an ingenious plan that could help him proceed. He took a piece of half chewed gum and flicked it at the little gadget. SPLAT! It was a direct hit the gum covered the laser, thus preventing it from zapping anything. He continued deeper into the pyramid. About 5 minutes later he heard talking, and as he got closer he could see two aliens. They looked like floating brains with tentacles. They were conversating with a funny voice, like the kind of voice you make with your nose covered. One said:” finally, after so many years, finally we can take back what we owned!” the other said:” alright. The five year check is done prepare for liftoff!” The officer froze. The culprits were the aliens. There was still one teeny bit of hope, however, but it’s risky. He jumped out and began chanting and spinning like a maniac. The aliens turned around. “Look, there’s a puny human over there. Why don’t we get rid of that crazy creature?” the fiendish foes each drew an energy sword of their own. The cop took of immediately, with the deadly twins following him. Soon he ended at the laser room again. He took the gum off the projector, went to the other side of the room, and stood there. The aliens also came. “Prepare to surrender!” one exclaimed. “You’ll be no match for us two. DIE!!!!” ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately the aliens forgot about their own trap, and this mistake has led them to the same fate as the pebble: blown into pieces. “Now it’s time to take out the big guy” the cop said to himself. He ran outside to find the UFO still hovering, waiting for orders. He scrambled to the jeep and took out a walkie-talkie and a flare. Then he called the UFO, plugged his nose, and shouted: “ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION! THERE’S A GIGANTIC BOMB IN THE PYRAMID!!!” “Are you sure, sir?” the pilot aliens asked, in the same obnoxious noise. The officer then fired the flare, which had an ear shattering sound and could be heard clearly on the other side of the radio. After that he continued: “IT’S STARTING TO IGNITE!!!” The aliens needed no more encouragement. “Copy that, sir!!!” they shrieked in panic. They lighted the UFO’s engine and in a whisk of air, they left, leaving the pyramid safe but in a new place: The Gobi desert. My Birthplace Regents Primary School ofShenzhen, Audrey Wang, Fiction: Group 2

have been travelling around the universe for a long time in order to find my birthplace and meet my parents and siblings. This time my spaceship lands on a vast piece of yellow sandy land. My intuition tells me that I must be able to find something here. I open the door and see a small creature in front of me. I“Hi, I’m Timothy. I’m a GECKO. Who’re you?” Timothy introduces himself. I like Timothy immediately because he has a trustworthy and friendly smile. “My name is George,” I reply. “Do you know you’ve come to the Gobi Desert? Only the toughest creatures like me can survive in such a hot and dry place!” Timothy says with dignity. “So, why are you here?” “I’m looking for my family members. Have you ever seen someone who looks like me?” I ask. “Oh yes, more or less like you.” Timothy replies. “Where? Can you show me the way?” I urge him earnestly. “Calm down, my friend. It’s my pleasure to help you.” Timothy answers with his remarkable friendly smile. Then Timothy jumps on my back and we begin our journey.

* * *

Everywhere in the Gobi looks the same: the sand, the rocks, the dry plants and the burning sun. I haven’t had a drop of water for several days. I’m dying of thirst. Suddenly, I see something green and blue in front of me. “Look! It’s a lake!” I cry out and rush to it for water. “No, that’s only a mirage!” Timothy yells. But before Timothy finishes his words, I’ve already bumped into a rock and get a bruise on my head. “I can’t tolerate this dry heat anymore …” I grumble. While I’m losing consciousness, I can vaguely see a four legged creature carrying two tiny hills approaching me. “We’re safe! The BACTERIAN CAMEL can help us.” Timothy tells me excitedly. “He’s the OASIS of a desert. There’s water stored inside his humps. This amazing animal can travel for thirty days without drinking any water.” The camel kneels down and lets us have the water in his humps. I’m really thankful of his unselfish act for sharing the most precious thing in the desert with us. Water!

* * *

Night is chilling in the desert and the day is scorching. The conditions are hard but I have to persist. Up ahead, we can see some small sturdy yellow plants. They are really eye-catching. “How can they survive here?” I query. “These plants are called SAXAULS. They can be pressed to produce drinking water and used for medical purposes. But most important of all, because desertification is a serious problem in the Gobi, people grow saxauls to prevent sandstorms and air pollution.” “Wow, wow…” It’s the howling of the dusty sandstorm. It sweeps through the desert like a roaring monster. I’m really terrified. “Let’s hide behind the saxauls!” Timothy yells. We watch the sandstorm passing by the desert. I’m amazed by the miracle created by the saxauls. They are like natural screens that block away the sandstorm. They are the soldiers who are protecting the territory.

* * *

Finally, the sandstorm stops. The sky becomes clear. I can see several tents lying not far away from us. “Those are the yurts of the MONGOLIANS. They live inside. The Mongolians are the rulers of the Gobi. They farm, rear livestock and safeguard this piece of land. I’m sure they can help you.” Timothy pacifies me. “Mum, it’s alive. It’s not just a skeleton!” A boy cries out when he sees me. “Yes. Nars, go and tell our leader Shaki. Our protecting God is alive.” Nars’ mother says. Then Nars leads us into Shaikh’s yurt. “I’ve been travelling a long way. I must find my family members before I die.” I tell Shaikh. Shaikh pats my shoulder and says, “Our traditional proverb says, ‘Happy is the one who has guests, merry is the home boasting a tethering rail full of visitor’s horses.” You’re our honorable guest. I promise I’ll make your dream come true.” At night, there is a camp fire in the open area. I listen to the Mongolian songs and watch the Mongolian dances. I drink sheep milk and share their bread. Then I rest in their yurt. It’s the most pleasurable day in the desert.

* * *

When I wake up the next morning, many yurts have disappeared. I wonder what’s happened to them. “Good morning! We’re busy packing for our next journey. We’re nomadic herders. We must move on from place to place to find grass for our livestock. Before leaving, we’ll take you to find your relatives.” Nars explains to me. Later that day, we arrive at a two-storey building. “It’s the MUSEUM OF ERENHOT. Your parents and siblings are inside. Please accept everything that you see.” Shaikh warns me. I dash into the museum. I see a model that looks like me in the entrance. What I see next really shocks me. I see the skeletons of my dead ancestors! Then I see a giant egg at the very end of the room. It’s the egg of my little brother. It lay just next to me before we were apart. I run towards it and hold it tightly. I fall to the ground and burst into tears. “This is the first DINOSAUR EGG that was ever found in the world. From then on, we continued to dig up fossils of dinosaurs. As a result, the government built a dinosaur museum here to educate the people. They learn to love animals, love plants and love nature.” Shaikh explains. “We can hardly believe that your species is still alive.” “No, I’m the last one of my species and I’m dying. My last breath leads me to my birthplace. I love this place. I love all of you in the Gobi Desert. You’re hospitable, confident, strong and unique. I’m proud of you.” I say while I’m breathing deeply. “At last, I can be reunited with my family!” The Journey To The Desert The Legend of the Immortal Desert Regents Primary School of Shenzhen, Sophia Wang, Fiction: Group 2

hree men were walking down the hill. The wind was blowing harshly at them. They were going to the immortal desert. ‘Are we there yet? Your majesty,’ a man said deeply. ‘I think we are here, your majesty, ’ said another man. T‘We are here, we will never die.’ said a man who was called the Majesty. But they didn’t notice as a big hand grabbed them and pull them into the sand …poof! Everything disappeared. The desert turned back to serenity. ‘Oh mine I can’t believe we are going to a desert, that is very near the legendary Immortal Desert!’ A boy in blue T-shirt and shorts shouted out. ‘Nick, did you hear about the tale, right?’ said a girl wearing a yellow dress. ‘Do you believe it? Nick replied. ‘We are going to a party, not going to a adventure to the Immortal desert which is fiction!’ said Sarah, who was reading the inflight magazine. Nick, Mike, Rachel, and Sarah are four best friends from high school. They are heading out to the Immortal Desert for a party held by a rich friend, Richard. He invited them to the party at his newly renovated resort. ‘Please buckle your seatbelts. We are going to land.’ said the pilot. ‘Can’t wait for the party!’ said Rachel. As they arrived the resort, there was a man standing next to the security guard. He was telling the guard about something. Nick heard him saying ‘leave this place, the monster is hungry, or it will be too late!’ The guard said to the man: ‘It’s just a fable!’ the guard walked away. Nick asked the man: ‘Who is the demon? And who are you?’ The man said: ‘I will tell you in a dream.’ When they went back to their rooms, it was already late, so they all went to bed, except Nick, who kept thinking about what the man said to him. Soon, Nick fell asleep. He had a dream. Just like what the man said. He dreamt that he was talking with the man at the Immortal desert. The man said: ‘I know you think I am strange, but you have to hear my story then you can save the others.’ The man said with a deep voice. Nick thought, ‘Help others? Are you kidding me?’ The man said ‘Please listen! I am an explorer, I’ve heard the tale for a long time, and wanted to explore it. At first I found a local minibus that can take me to the immortal desert. I got there safely and nothing odd happened but suddenly a young girl appeared and said: ’Welcome to the Immortal desert, but soon you will be dead.’ Suddenly, her hand grabbed my neck. I begged that girl to give me three days to give warnings to other people so then I will let her decide my fate. The girl sighed and said;’ Alright, but only an hour per day you may go out, the rest of the time you have to stay with me. Tomorrow is my last day to escape…’ the man sigh and said: ‘Every 100 year, the sand monster will come out of its cave to devour humans. I don’t know why it let a girl turns to an evil possessed. When the monster’s appetite is insatiable, it will leave the desert, and devour other people. ‘But how can we save you and the other people?’ asked Nick. ‘Please find the weeping angel so you might find the witch there. She can let her faint for fifteen minute to avoid the monster’s control. You will have to take her to the Santa Maria church…so she could turn back to normal human.’ The man said. ‘I heard a tale that if the monster doesn’t devour 100 people, and the girl turned normal, it might disappear forever.’ the man said. ‘Wake up! Sleepy head,’ said Sarah. Instantly, he woke up and yelled anxiously: ‘We must go to the ten angel statutes!’ ‘Are you kidding?’ Sarah replied. ‘Believe me, yesterday that man told everything in my dream!’ said Nick pleadingly. They gathered to discuss their plans. They drove to the famous tourists’ attraction, Ten Angel Statutes. The glittering statues were made of golden sand. They stood proudly in the midst of cactus flower. When they arrived, Nick immediately spotted the one statue with its eyes splashing out a fountain of water. ‘That’s the weeping angel!’ yelled Nick. They leaned toward the angel, and the angel spoke. ‘In the morning, it had four legs, in the afternoon, it had two legs, in the nighttime, it had three legs. What is it?’ They were confused. ‘What did the angel say?’ Rachel asked. ‘Human?’ Sarah replied. Suddenly, the angel collapsed and sunk down to the sand and a girl appeared. ‘She is the witch!’ Nick cried out, trembling with fear. She told them that she’s going to help them to destroy the sand monster. The witch clapped her hands, and instantly they were already at the immortal desert. There, they saw the monster-possessed girl. ‘Welcome to the immortal…’ before the girl finished her sentence, the witch clapped her hands, and that girl fainted. When she woke up, she found herself lying on the altar of the Santa Maria Church. Her witch sister had saved her. Then, the strange man reappeared. ‘Thank you for saving my life, Nick’. Nick was shocked. ‘I’m Jacob, nice to meet you!’ The man pulled out his hands to shake Nick’s hands. At that moment, Nick realized that this man had been released as the girl turned normal. ‘Thank you for saving ours!’ all four friends said cheerfully. ‘Now, we can finally enjoy the party!’ Nick shouted with joy. New Tales of the Gobi Desert The Story of the Great Journey S.K.H. Fung Kei Primary School, Kwok Yee Lam, Fiction: Group 2

long time ago,before land rovers were born,crossing the great Gobi Desert was the second most difficult things to do.Nobody ever thought of crossing it except for one extraordinary Mongolian explorer, Oyunbileg,you might think Oyunbileg is a boy’s name but it is not.It was a girls name!She had long brown hair,a pair of the most attractiveA eyes.Many boys mock at her that she can never achieve that dream when she was little ,so she was determinated to pursue her dream of crossing the desert. She began her quest to be the first woman to ever cross the desert.As she waved goodbye to her friends and family her best friend ,Bayarmaa,decided to go with her. Bayarmaa was crafty and pretty ,she had the same dream as the hero of our story.They brought enough water for two people to last a month,but the young friends didn’t know what dangers are ahead.It is filled with dangerous creatures.It is cold but dry,endless yet nasty. They were not very far from home,when a snow leopard attacked them in their camp. They were frightened by it’s drooling fangs and it’s terrifying claws.They knew it was starving for fresh blood.The girls screamed as the leopard snapped and growled at them ,Just then they got the same brilliant idea. Oyunbileg threw a piece of meat into the campfire they built before the attack. The snowy beast turned,walking hungrily towards it. Bayaarma took a knife and with one swift singlle cut,killed the hungry animal.They were safe...for now. The next camp they built was near a lot of coprolite.In those days they aren’t worth much but great for fires.The explorers were overjoyed ,but they don’t know what they are made of. After a long and ambitious journey ,they finally arrived at the middle of the desert.Bayarmaa had a thought on the way there ,she thought she should be the first to cross the desert,she said:’Oyunbileg,It is too cold,I think you should go back ,i will go on.’Oyunbileg wasn’t a genius but she wasn’t stupid.She knew what her travelling companion meant:She wanted herself to be first to cross the great desert.But she didn’t let her best friend know she knew. They saw an oasis.They were over filled with joy,because everything they encountered so far were sand and snow leopards As they entered the oasis they saw the most marvelous sight. Colourful ,exotic berries lined lush green bushes.There were even berries the shape of cups and some of bubbles that float.Tall trees with violet flowers are surrounding a crystal clear lake.The girls ran over to it.But it was a weird that it was not frozen.There were even fishes with fins of teal and scales of silver.The algae were perfect shaded green,waving,dancing as though they are alive.They knew there was something weird about this oasis because the wonderful lake was not frozen.So they grabbed their camels and took off and continued on their journey. But they soon found out their camels had eaten some poisonious berries because they died with red and blue berry juice on their poisoned snouts.The camel’s corpses were cold as ice,and as blue as the berries they ate.They continued their journey on foot. Oyunbileg had a nightmare when she was sleeping.In her dream,a girl screamed as she saw a green monster ,the face of it was her friend’s ,it attacked her and she woke up when it’s morning On the way they saw a tiny crater in the sand.Three speckeled eggs lay in the nest,suddenly a snowy white bird who has a brown patch on it’s head,like a helmet ,used it’s black wings to fly towards the nest.Three heads popped out of the tiny eggs.Their mother coughed up something gross and fed it to it’s babies lovingly.The girls thought it was disgusting yet touching at first ,but then they thought of their families at home ,wondering if they were missing them. Just as the girls ran short of food supplies ,a pack of hungry wolves crossed by.They needed food to feed the cubs.They stared at the girls hungrily.the girls stared at them the same way theyused their torches to fight for survival.They were injured badly but the winner of the fight was them.It was a labourious trip but they some how made it to the end,but just as Oyunbileg was about to cross her friend graabed her. her friend.got hold of a rope with a hook on the end while She took hold of her lucky dagger they Started to fight, Bayarmaa was quick ,but Oyumbileg was strong.The girls fought like two tigers for a joint of meat,Bayarmaa swung the hook and tore into the side of her partners arm.Oyunbileg tore the hook of and started stabbing the foot of her’friend.Blood splatered everywhere.The fight was horrible ,even the sand turned bloody red.As both of them were about to strike Oyunbileg said ;’Why are we Fighting? Is fame better then friendship?’They stopped fighting but they were almost dead. They held hands and used their last breath to cross the desert. But they were amazed to find out they are not dead.they are still alive.they crossed the desert and made it to China.They suddenly thought about one massive detail...how are they going to go back home?They actually thought of this matter so they are going to do that again next year when they recovered from the coldness, injury from fighting and the horror from all the attacks from the wild animals,but for now they are just fine. How happy. The New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.K.H. Fung Kei Primary School, Wong Cheuk Lam Matthew, Fiction: Group 2

ow, that was really a powerful boom!” I said to the news reporters , lying weakly “ in a hospital bed. My memory flew back to the thirtieth of July. It was a bright, hot day, and I boarded a 747 for England. The plane was gleamingW white under the sun , and it was magnificent. The plane took off steadily into the sky , flew and flew, over green mountains and rivers. After several hours, the plane was flying over the desert-Gobi Desert. “Look! The yellow sand dunes are gleaming with sunshine brilliantly!” I exclaimed. Suddenly, I saw a huge thunderstorm right in front of the plane. It was so gigantic! The storm had an anvil shaped top and looked like a full blown supercell. Lightning flashed underneath the cloud and the downbursts blew huge clouds of sand into the air. The plane flew , and all of a sudden , it looked like that was sucked into the storm’s intense convection. ‘BOOOMMM!!!’ a flash of lightning exploded into dazzling white light just outside the plane, and caused one of the engines to burst into flames. The plane went to fall bumpily and scared everyone. “Ladies and gentleman, this is the captain speaking…an emergency landing at Gobi desert… will now show the emergency procedures. Please pay attention to…” I ducked my head down instinctively , my mind blank with fear. The plane slammed down onto the sand, then it broke into two. I was nearly tossed out of my seat. I jumped out with a bag onto the sand. I ran immediately for my dear life. There was a huge explosion. Meanwhile a fireball rose behind me. I looked around , and found that I was the only one who escaped. I burst into tears. “My dad , mum , oh!” I shouted. I sat on the sand not knowing what to do. The sky grew bloody red and then cold blue. The sky was dotted with many stars in which I never had seen. “I have hope!” I shouted, “I will go out of the desert one day!” Then I checked my bag. The next day was bright, with nothing but wispy cirrus clouds high up in the sky. I began searching for anything to eat. I walked hardly then found some cacti, and many pitayas on it. “How delicious it was!” I stuffed as many as I could into my bag. With every bite , the image of my home arose. I felt a marvelous relief. (Now , when I eat pitayas , I see the Gobi Desert. )It reminded me of the desert survival tips. One should not trek in the desert during the day. I dug a small hole in the sand (big enough for me to sit in and put my backpack over my head to prevent dehydration. I also composed funny jokes in my head to prevent from being bored to death. The sun went down, I continued the hard trip. The night was lit up by trillions of stars, so it was not too dark. I climbed up one dune on arms and legs, then slid down the another side, and again and again. I used to study until midnight, and it became really useful. I could get used to sleeping only a few short hours every few days. Once, I looked around on the top of a dune. The scenery was a total kaleidoscope. The dunes were amazing. What’s more, there are many ripples on them. What a fantasy! The time became a flow, and was such a smooth flow that the days melted into each other and disappeared. That was good, because if I remembered the days, I would have died of fear. Fear is the worst enemy of everyone. It makes you still, unable to more, and in a disaster, it will push you towards death. There was a few memorable nights. One around the 20th, I suddenly saw some streaks of light. “What is it?” I saw the whole sky being covered in tiny little dots of light with tails. The beauty was beyond words. I gazed in awe for a few seconds. I was in a meteor shower. And in another night. I discovered a large cactus.It was around ten meters high above the ground. It was so extremely tall. I also found a flowering cactus. The flower was perfectly white, and it was more beautiful than any I had seen. Have you ever seen an atomic bomb exploding? One morning, I saw a strange tower on a dune. I did not know what it was , so I paid no attention to it. When I was sitting in my sand pit as usual , I suddenly heard speakers saying , ‘Ten , nine , WHO’S THERE???WHO’S THERE???’A helicopter nearly landed on top of my head , and one strong , muscular soldier dashed out , wearing a PROTECTIVE suit and grabbed me and sort of tossed me into the helicopter and took off immediately. Shortly after that , there was a blinding blue flash billions of times brighter than the sun , and there was a huge lurch and a truly deafening boom as the shockwave arrived , billions and trillions and trillions times of the loudest thunderclap , and a loud buzzing noise filled my ears. I looked through a window and saw a gigantic MUSHROOM CLOUD!!!... “Do you want to drink some water , boy ? The sound of a caring nurse drew me back to reality and I found that all the reporters had left. I took a sip , and I decided to write a long book about my experience , and the title will be …be… The fight in the Gobi Desert S.K.H. Yuen Chen Maun Chen Primary School, Siu Nam Wong, Fiction: Group 2

n the deep of the Gobi Desert, there is a pearl called the Desert’s Eye. If someone tries to steal it, the evil curses will be fall on them. The one who has it can rule the Gobi Desert. But who wants to rule a desert? My name is Jimmy Potter. The whole class, even my friends don’t know my real name. IIda Folb is an evil girl in my class. Only I know her surname because I see her writing Folb. One day, Ida disappeared in the PE lesson! Then she popped up on the fourth floor. She was holding something like an charger. She pointed it towards us and pressed a button. A beam of lime light shot me and my best friend, Jonathan, and some other guys. I couldn’t see them because the light blinded my eyes for a second. ‘Yikes!’ yelled Jonathan. We landed on some soft sand. Harmony, Ida’s close friend was there too. ‘Where the hell are we?’ asked Harmony. ‘We are in the Gobi Desert,’ I answered. We were in great pain, as if fire was running through our bones. Then we heard an evil voice, ‘Find the Eye or I’ll kill you.’ Some sand burned up and formed a word ‘Ida Folb’. ‘Never!’ I yelled out. Jonathan and Harmony fell down onto the sand, screaming for help, ‘If you don’t do it, your friends are going to DIE!’ ‘Don’t!’ said Jonathan in a painful voice, ‘I’d rather die!’ ‘Don’t do it, Jimmy.’ Harmony said ‘Shut up! You two.’ They yelled louder because Ida cast more curses on them. ‘Okay, I will help you but let my friends go,’ I said. The voice continued, ‘I warn you, Jimmy, you and your friends can’t get out of here until you have found it.’ The voice became smoke and formed the word ‘Folb’. ‘I can’t believe that you will help her,’ said Jonathan. ‘But I can’t see you guys die in front of me, right?’ I tried to explain. ‘But where should we start?’ asked Harmony. ‘My grandpa once told me that one could find it easily if one would not use it.’ I saw a bit of sand glowing. I ran in front of it and dug very fast. ‘Come on and help me dig the sand. The Desert’s Eye is here. Come on!’ They jumped into action quickly, but the harder we dug, the more sand appeared. ‘No, we can’t just dig forever. We’ll surely die of hunger!’ I said. ‘Jimmy’s right. Hey, we can blow it up!’ Jonathan said, ‘But we can’t blow it up without gunpowder.’ ‘That’s true!’ I said. Then Harmony took out a box of matches and some grayish powder from a bag. ‘Ida gave me this last Monday,’ she said. Jonathan lit up the match and yelled ‘RUN!’ We ran as fast as horses. Suddenly we heard ‘BOOM’ and we looked in the hole that just formed. ‘Jump!’ Harmony and I jumped into the hole quickly but Jonathan stood still. ‘Jonathan, come on!’ I said. ‘Ouch! I can’t move,’ he said. There was some smoke behind Jonathan. Suddenly, Ida popped up and said, ‘One person will die by the end of this day.’ She put some spikes around his neck. ‘JONATHAN!’ I shouted. ‘Give me the Eye and I’ll release him. Otherwise, Harmony will be the next one,’ growled Ida. She and Jonathan became a puff of smoke. ‘There’s something glowing over there,’ I said. We walked towards it. Harmony can’t see anything but I saw a table with potions and a piece of paper. On the paper was written:

‘There are seven potions on the desk. There are two bottles that contains wine, one makes you drunk and one kills you. The two are on the right. In the middle, is the drink takes you one step closer to the Eye. Next to the middle, the second killer stands beside his brother. The next to the middle stands a healer. It heals everything, drunkenness, pain but cannot save you from death. The first to the left take you to the Eye too. Next to it, takes you back, there’re only two servings.’ ‘I get it!’ I cheered and put the healer in my pocket. I also took the potion that takes you to the Eye and told Harmony to open her mouth. Then I poured the potion in her mouth. She was gone in a gush of wind. I also took the potion that gets you out together in my pocket and I drank down the potion that’s left. . The potion took us into a room. We saw a pearl glowing. ‘Now what?’ asked Harmony. I saw a sign, ‘Place your hand here to receive the Eye,’ I placed my hand out but I felt an awful pain, like the first time Ida tortured me and I screamed, ‘Take the pearl and g...go, take it out and say “sand fall false” then I c... an come out. Come on!’ Harmony took the pearl and ran out of the room and yelled ‘Sand fall false!’ I took my hand off and ran. I looked at my watch and cried, ‘It’s almost midnight and Ida will be back. I got the pearl!’ Ida appeared and said, ‘Give it back to me!’ I took the pearl out and gave it to her. Jonathan fell to the ground. ‘Hey, send us back to our school,’ I said. After that we’re back in school. ‘I can’t believe that you gave her the Eye,’ said Jonathan angrily. ‘I didn’t give her the Eye,’ I said and took out something glowing. ‘That’s the Desert’s Eye,’ said Harmony. ‘I only gave her the potion bottle,’ I further explained. ‘Why does Ida want that Eye so much?’ I thought about it for a second. I yelled out loudly, ‘Ida’s soul is in the Eye!’ Jonathan patted my shoulder and said, ‘You read too much Harry Potter.’ So long guys! The Adventure to the Gobi Desert S.K.H. Yuen Chen Maun Chen Primary School, Nok Hang Cheung, Fiction: Group 2

octor, you will go to the Gobi Desert to find fossilized dinosaur eggs with Gordon “ tomorrow,” said my secretary, “Gordon is your guide there.” “Nice to meet you, Doctor John.” said Gordon. “The next morning we will take the plane XL734 to Mongolia at half past eight. When we arrived at Gobi province, we will Dbuy two Bactrian camels and start our wonderful journey.” “Oh, I see,” I said and took a map from my book shelf, “We will walk through the main area of this big desert. Finally we will come back to Hong Kong. I hope we can find some fossils.” “Yes,” Gordon answered. “I’ve already been to Gobi Desert for several times. I went there with scientists or archaeologists for four times, but we could not find any dinosaur skeletons. I hope that we will find some dinosaur skeletons this time. We will meet at the airport, okay?” “Yes,” I answered, “Bye and see you tomorrow!” Then he opened the door and went out of my office. The next day, I went to the airport with my luggage by bus. I met Gordon at the check-in counter. On the plane, I said to Gordon, “We should start our trip in the Gobi Desert after taking off the plane immediately.” “I agree,” said Gordon. “However we should buy two camels first. Since driving is not safe in a huge and horrible sandy desert, the engine may overheat or wheels may become stuck.” “This place is so hot! I want to die…” I shouted in the desert with a two-hump camel after crossing the desert. Gordon laughed, “Well, this hell place will be colder than the North Pole at night! Haha!” We rode our camels along the sand dunes. The sky overhead was very clear without clouds. The dunes changed shapes as the wind blew the sand about. We saw several Mongolian tents and Mongolian herders. I asked them, “Hello, we come from Hong Kong. Can we rent a tent for tonight?” “Ni men shi hui?” One of them said. “Wo ting bu dong ni shuo shen me.” I knew that he was speaking Putonghua. So, I asked him again in Putonghua, “Oh, we come from Hong Kong. We would like to rent a tent to sleep here tonight.” Finally, I could communicate with him successfully. He gave me a warm welcome and let us enter a Mongolian tent. At night, his family invited us to have dinner with them. We ate some mutton and they were very delicious. They also taught us the Mongolian tents called yurts. Moreover, they did not use precious water to wash dirty dishes. They cleaned the dishes by rubbing them with sand. After dinner, I said to Gordon, “I think something may be going wrong in this trip.” “I don’t think so,” Gordon answered, “We eat yummy food and look at the beautiful stars of Mongolian sky. Perhaps we will find some dinosaur fossils later.” He went to his bed and said “Good night” to me. The next day, we left the Mongolian tribe early in the morning. We carried on our trip. We rode camels and tried to find the Mongolian valley of the dinosaur fossils. The daytime temperature was high with dry and hot waves. We could only find some grass in the barren region. “Oh! There is a sandstorm coming. We must walk fast!” Gordon said and looked at the sandstorm. It was big and moved as fast as a leopard. Some long-eared hedgehogs were escaping from the sandstorm. “According to the map, we can find the valley of dinosaur fossils after climbing this mountain. Then we can reach the border of China,” I said and looked at the map. “Let’s run fast! We have no time!” Gordon commanded. We made our camels to run over the mountain. On the top of the mountain, we found some dinosaur skeletons. We shouted, “Wow! We find the dinosaur skeletons!” We ran down the mountain and reached the valley. “What a beautiful picture! A lot of dinosaur skeletons! I will be famous—what?!” I stopped and looked at the “dead body” of a dinosaur. “Gordon! This dinosaur is attached with some flesh! It didn’t die for a long time! Something is going wrong… Dinosaurs cannot be alive now!” Actually I stopped my words and a big yelling sound coming by a creature. It had a big head, a pair of big legs, and sharp claws. It was a real and live DINOSAUR. It was snorting and running towards us. We screamed, “HELP!!!” We escaped from its claws at once. At that time we thought it would eat us. “There is a real dinosaur! Now I understand why the one who came here last year was disappeared! He was eaten by this terrible creature! RUN!!” I shouted at Gordon when we were running. Luckily, there was a helicopter flying in the sky. We waved our hands and shouted for help. A ladder was put down from the helicopter. We caught the ladder and climbed up to the helicopter. We were saved. On the helicopter, we saw the dinosaur eating our camels. It was horrible. Finally, I was woken up from a frightening nightmare. My alarm clock rang. It was time I should wake up to meet Gordon at the airport and start my adventure to Gobi Desert. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Chan Tsz Hong, Fiction: Group 2

Once upon a time, the Gobi Desert was a great place. People and animals lived there happily. There were a lot of fairies too. There was fairy queen to rule the group of fairies. One day, the queen was old and decided to choose a new queen. She invited the fairies to a competition. They needed to break spells and have a flying broom race. A bad fairy wanted to rule the world so she joined the competition. The bad fairy passed all the spell breaking tests and she just needed to race with the left three fairies. The two fairies had a crash and quit the race and there were only two fairies left. The bad fairy could ride skillfully and she won but the queen decided to challenge her once more. The queen wanted to ask her some questions. ‘Do you want all the fairies to obey you?’ asked the fairy queen.’ Yes!’ the bad fairy answered excitedly. ‘Give your crown to me,’ the bad fairy ordered. The fairy queen squinted at the bad fairy. ‘You are evil and greedy. I will not let you be the queen. I will let the first runner up be the queen,’ said the queen fairy and everyone cheered. They had a party to celebrate. The bad fairy was very angry. After the party, the bad fairy changed all the fairies into camels and she made a sand storm to cover Gobi. She decided to kill the queen fairy but they all died in the fight. From then on, Gobi had no fairies and it became a big desert with camels. No one lived in the Gobi Desert anymore. It became an empty desert with nothing. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Chan Tsz Wing, Fiction: Group 2

ast night, Dad bought a video about an adventure in the Gobi Desert and we watched it after dinner. It was very interesting and exciting. I asked Dad to go there on holiday but he said it was too far away. Then I went to sleep with the beautiful scenery of Gobi Desert in my mind. LI felt asleep very quickly and after a while, I was woken up by a strange sound. Then, I saw I was not in my bed or home. I rubbed my eyes and I was in the middle of a desert! I was surrounded by sand and could see a lot of camels not very far away! Suddenly, a camel found me and was walking to me. “Hello, who are you? My name is Ruby. Nice to meet you!” she said. I was very scared because it was a camel speaking human words! But I was also curious and anxious to know where I was. So I said, “Hello, my name is Katie. Nice to meet you too!” I told Ruby that I was alone and could not find my way home. “Let me bring you to see my master and we can see some beautiful spots of the Gobi Desert. It will be fun!” Ruby told me friendlily. On the way, I could see the desert. It was not only full of sand. There were many plants. I saw different kinds of cactuses such as Barrel Cactus and Saguaro Cactus, bushes and flowers. I also saw herds of sheep eating and resting on a very small piece of grass. They were cute and lovely. They said hello to Ruby when I passed by. Then she brought me to her master’s house. Her master’s name was Sally. “She is kind and you will be welcomed. Don’t worry!” Ruby said. Sally was a fat and friendly woman. She was also a powerful witch and she made Ruby a talking camel! She welcomed me and asked me to stay in her house until I could find my way home. She gave me a thick jacket and reminded me to put it on at night because the desert was very cold at night. “Can you help me to go back home? I don’t know why I have travelled such a long way to this Gobi Desert, I miss my parents.” I said. “My dear, I have no ideas at the moment but I will try my best to help you,” Sally replied. I was so disappointed and started thinking of my parents again. “Don’t worry too much. Are you hungry? Let’s give you something to eat, so you will not be hungry. I will visit other witches tomorrow to find you the way home. Until then, make yourself at home here.” Sally tried to comfort me after seeing I was disappointed. Her words warmed my heart and I was not as sad as before. After finishing the food, I was very full and Ruby suggested going out to walk around the nearby desert. Sally reminded Ruby not to go far as it was not long from sunset. Ruby promised to come home before then. Ruby brought her friends to visit and to play many exciting games. We have surfed down from a sand hill and watch eagles hunting. When we were playing hide-and-seek, a strong wind suddenly appeared and blew me up to high sky. I could not open my eyes or speak any words because it was full of sand and wind. I did not know how long it took and when I opened my eyes again I saw my Mum and Dad sitting next to me on my bed looking at me. I jumped up to give them a big hug and started crying. I told them what I had seen in the Gobi Desert. Mum told me tenderly that it was only a dream. Although it was only a dream, I would miss my new friend, Ruby, a talking camel! New Tale of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Fung Pak Wai, Fiction: Group 2

n a scorching desert, a team of camels is walking through this desolate place with some merchants and heavy goods. They walk slowly and laboriously just like the turtles walking with their heavy shells. These merchants are heading to Ulaanbaatar to sell goods and they are now going through the Gobi Desert which is really a desolate place. You cannot see Ianyone as you walk on the top of the sand dunes. Walking in this wasteland, you would feel that you need to walk forever. The captain of these merchants is Baldwin Graford. Graford is a really grumpy guy because he always shouts loudly to other merchants. He has an assistant called Anderson Kantor who always butters him up so Graford never shouts at him. But actually, Kantor is a hypocritical and malignant person who always wants to be the leader. And this trip is the best chance for Kantor to kill Graford off. There is also a merchant called Jerry Henson who hates Kantor very much, so Kantor wants to kill him off too. But he decided to liquidate their leader, Graford, first. The trip in the Gobi Desert is really harsh. Sometimes, they can barely see the head of the camel when there is a sandstorm. They walk for nearly three days but they haven’t seen any towns or buildings yet. The camels and the merchants are terribly tired so they get rest near a short tree. But they eat just a little food because the naughty sand goes into their mouth and they can taste nothing except the saltiness of the sand. They can’t even open their eyes without the shelter of a piece of cloth. They want to be a camel because they can stand in the desert in an unruffled posture, but they can just imagine it. Soon, they leave that place and start their journey again. A merchant called Henry Marc asks their leader, Graford, ‘Why do we need to walk...’ But he stops asking his question as he knows Graford will shout at him again. He wants to finish this trip right now but he couldn’t, because no one can see a plane or even a person walking in the desert except themselves. In the night, they set up a tent near a sand dune and lay on the ground quickly because they are exhausted. Soon, everyone is asleep and there is a loud snoring sound in the tent. But Anderson Kantor is very excited as he can do his ‘job’ soon. He pretends to sleep and wait until Graford is sleeping soundly. After half an hour, he takes out his dagger and wants to kill Baldwin Graford. But suddenly, Graford wakes up and he sees him. Kantor is frightened but he hides his dagger quickly so Graford doesn’t see it. Graford asks, ‘What are you doing here, Kantor?’ Kantor answers, ‘I’m going to go to the toilet, sir.’ So Graford goes to sleep again. Kantor goes out of the tent quickly and plans how to put his plan into action, but he thinks, ‘If I do this in the tent, the other merchants will know he is killed by someone in the team, and maybe they will think I’m the suspect of this killing.’ So he decided to put his plan off. The next day, when everyone is awake, they set off again. But unfortunately, they left a bag of food at the place where they slept. Graford said, ‘You guys are useless! How can you leave a bag of food there? Come on! Kantor, let’s go back!’ Actually, Kantor left the bag of food there deliberately, since he knew if Graford wants to take or buy something, he would go there with Kantor only so it is a good chance for Kantor to kill Graford off. They walk back to the place where they sleep. On the way, Kantor is planning how to put his plan into action. He walks behind Graford and take his dagger out... When Kantor walks back to the team with the bag of food, the other merchants scream, ‘Where is Graford? Why do you walk here by yourself?’ Kantor pretends to be sad and said, ‘Graford was bitten by a poisonous scorpion and I couldn’t cure him. So...’ The merchants are sad as they have lost a leader. Henry Marc said, ‘Can we stand in a silent tribute for a minute?’ Kantor said, ‘Okay, but we have to go soon.’ Kantor doesn’t want to stand in a silent tribute. He just wants this minute to run as fast as it can. But there are two merchants who do not stand in a silent tribute. They are Jerry Henson and Sean Quinn. They are on alert against Kantor. When they set off again, the two merchants walk at the back of the team but they’re actually noticing what Kantor’s doing. When they almost arrive at Ulaanbaatar, there is a sandstorm again. So they all set up a tent and go inside. But Jerry Henson and Sean Quinn do not go into the tent. They stay outside for a minute. When they are ready to set out, a group of police comes and arrest Kantor. The merchants are shocked. ‘Why do you arrest him? What did he do?’ said the merchants. The police said, ‘Go to the police station first!’ When they arrived at the police station, the police said, ‘Mr. Henson and Mr. Quinn, please say what’s happened to everyone. ‘So Henson and Quinn said what happened in the desert when Graford and Kantor went away in full detail. Kantor is shocked and depressed so he gives himself up, and the police put him in jail. When they walk out of the police station, Jerry Henson says, ‘Never believe a person who is honey-mouthed and dagger-hearted.’ New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Kwok Chun Tat, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was a town called Holily. It was a very big town and it was busy. People in the town were very kind and helpful. They always helped each other. But after 200 years, the citizens became proud and evil. They stole money, killed people and always fought with each other. The gods, Zeus and Hades, saw them from the Osky. Hades said, “We must kill all the people in Holily together, brother Zeus.” “No! You can’t. People are very important for earth. They can……” “Stop! Zeus, you are very kind! Look, the people there are bad. They do lots of evil things! We must kill all of them!” shouted Hades. “Hmmm…You are right, Hades. Let’s kill all the citizens in Holily,” replied Zeus. Zeus and Hades then brought their weapons and went to Holily. Hades also brought his pet sand dragon too. Then, they started there work- destroying Holily. First, Hades used his magic to kill the people. Zeus was a bit scared because he saw the people die terribly. Hades was happy as he was crazy. Zeus suddenly shouted, “Stop! Hades! Stop!” But Hades did not. Then, he released his scary pet dragon - the sand dragon. The sand dragon was very powerful and enormous. It blew a lot of sand from it’s mouth and the sand quickly covered Holily and it became the famous Gobi Desert. Zeus started to cry, “Why am I so stupid?” Nowadays, when you walk along the Gobi Desert, you can still hear Zeus crying loudly. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School,Lau Chun Lam, Fiction: Group 2

n year 2195, a boy called Jack found a magic book in the library. When Jack open the magic book, called ‘Earth?’, a strong wind pulled him into the magic book. It brought Jack to another planet. It was very special. It was a mirror image of Earth, called ‘R-Earth’. On ‘R-Earth’, Jack heard something. ‘Do you think the king will really start a war IEarth?’ asked one of the men. And the other man answered, ‘Yes, I think so!’ After hearing their conversation, Jack thought ‘Oh! I must stop them!’ Jack saw that everything on R-World was in block shapes. The rocks, the trees and even the people were blocks. In the next days, the block people found that Jack was so weird because he wasn’t square, so they told King Matthew. He was the king here because he won the ‘King Sit’ competition. This competition is used to find out who could be the king. This can also be a test because you need to use your strength and brain to win this competition. Of course, it can take your life away because you have to go across a river with crocodile in it. Then, King Matthew told the solders to catch Jack. Whoever caught Jack for the king could get one billion dollars. Because of the reward, everybody was trying to catch Jack. He was soon caught and he went into the jail for no reason. While in the jail, Jack was really sad. He thought, ‘Why do I have to go to the jail. I didn’t do anything bad!’ After some more days, Jack went back to Earth magically. He landed on the Gobi Dessert. The king noticed that Jack had escaped, so he used a machine to put himself and his soldiers on Earth to fight. All of a sudden, Jack saw the block men from R-Earth. All of them were shocked because they had already used a machine to confirm that there was no one in the Gobi Dessert. The soldiers put up their guns and pointed to Jack. Fortunately, he wasn’t scared of them. He was really courageous and walked in front of the king of R-Earth. Jack asked, ‘Why do you want to fight with the people on Earth?’ ‘Just for fun, and also our planet’s block people would like to know more about another planet so we had an idea to have a fight,’ said the king. ‘Wars make it worse, and also will you make friends with us by fighting?’ asked Jack. It looked as if the king had just woken up. No longer, Matthew, the king, came up with a great idea ‘We can make a day called ‘E and R-E day’. It means Earth people and R-Earth people meeting for a day. On that day, we can chat with others to know each other. R-Earth and Earth will have a good relationship. So this is the main idea.’ King Matthew said. Years later, the Gobi Desert became very important and famous on Earth because block people will go there to Earth people. And Jack became a famous person too! New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Lee Yat Sum, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was an explorer, Peter. He heard that Beijing had a big palace with many interesting things inside. So, he wanted to go there. His family wanted to go there too because they were interested in the kings and queens and wanted to know more. They went on a plane from an England to Beijing. On the plane, they met Peter’s Ofriend, Tom. He was an explorer too. He knew about China and Mongolia very well. He said, ‘I can take you to the palace. There are many fantastic things!’ But on the journey, the plane’s engine stopped and the plane started to fall to the ground! Tom told the family to take the parachute and jump out of the plane. They jumped and found themselves in the Gobi Desert. Tom said, ‘We need to sleep here for a few days. I can build a tent.’ But Peter replied, ‘The temperature here in the morning is very high but at night, it’s very low. And there are huge worms that eat people!’ ‘We have clothes and the worms are nonsense!’ Tom said. That night, they slept in the desert but a loud sound woke Peter up. He saw a small army dressed in heavy armor coming towards them. Quickly, he woke his family and Tom up, and said, ‘There is a small army coming! Let’s hide!’ Tom added, ‘They are the army of the Gobi Desert King. They will kill anyone who is found in the desert!’ They quickly hid behind a stone. Unfortunately, one soldier found them and brought them to the king. The king was dressed in a huge helmet and golden armor from his neck to feet. He asked, ‘Where do you come from? Why did you come here?’ Peter answered nervously,’ Ou...Our pl...plane crashed in the Gobi Desert. We come in peace.’ The king said, ‘Mmm, I believe you, but according to the law, you should be sentenced to death. But if you mean no harm, I will just throw you into prison for the rest of your lives.’ The soldiers took them into the prison beneath the king’s castle. After the soldiers closed the door, Peter’s wife asked, ‘What should we do now?’ Tom answered, ‘We should find a way to escape but I don’t know how. A ha! I know! We can use our mobile phones to contact the government of England! Oh no, the mobile phones cannot work here.’ At that moment, a soldier came in and said, ‘My name is Aragan. I’m here to help you escape. Don’t tell anyone. I can give you some information about King Arkrabaha. He has a secret. He met a powerful wizard a long time ago. He forced the wizard to make him immortal (never die). However, the wizard did not like the king so he made a magic sword. If it is broken, Arkrabaha will be destroyed. Oh, I forgot to tell you. When the wizard died, the King took all of his magic so you should be careful of him. He controls the Gobi Army with dark magic. But luckily, I broke the spell with the wizard’s sword deep inside the dungeon.’ ‘Thank you! But what should we do now?’ asked Peter. Aragan replied, ‘You should rest now. Tomorrow, we will go to the dungeon together. I need to go now.’ He went out of the room and left. The next day, they went down to the dungeon together but on the way they met Arkrabaha. The king used magic to throw Aragan against a wall and he fell down. Arkrabaha did the same to the rest. Then Aragan shot an arrow to the king and the king fell down. They ran to the dungeon and found the sword. When they were trying to break it, the king appeared and said, ‘The sword can only be destroyed by magic so you can’t destroy it! Ha ha ha!’ Then, he threw a fireball at Peter and Peter used the sword to hit the fireball. They crashed together and the sword was broken by the fireball! Arkrabaha fell on the ground. Something like fog covered the king and he New Tales of Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Leung Yuk Kwan, Fiction: Group 2

y classmates and I visited the Hong Kong Science Museum. We were very excited because we had never been there before. There was a tour guide who took us to different places in the museum. Can you guess who she is? She is our class teacher, Miss Mussurelli, who is clever and kind. She can always solve problems that we can’t solve. MWe learnt a lot in the museum, especially at the puzzle area, the magic mirror and the Magic Making Cupcakes World. We arrived at the puzzle area. Something caught my eye. a silver heart-shaped button on the wall. I was curious about that and I pressed the button. Suddenly, the floor shook like an earthquake and we were all scared. Then we fell into a gigantic hole and we felt very dizzy. My friend Cindy shouted, “Come! Come and see where we are now. We are in a desert. I think it’s the Gobi Desert!” We walked and walked. We were tired and exhausted. I was ashamed that I should not have touched that button in the museum. We felt hot and thirsty. We were sweating like it was raining cats and dogs. We then arrived in a big pond in the Gobi Desert. Cindy was surprised because a pond appeared in the desert. We were playing in the water and drinking water from the pond to forget about our unhappiness. Afterwards, we started worrying again. “How can we go back to the museum? How can we return there?” Problems came out of our mind one after another. Luckily, Miss Mussurelli is so clever and smart. She had an idea. “We can ask Dr. Max for help. He knows everything about all the deserts in the world. If we try our best to get out of the desert, we can do it!” said Miss Musurelli firmly. We took out our magic time telephone and called Dr. Max. “Dr. Max’s speaking! How can I help you?” said Dr. Max with his slow and low voice. Cindy told Dr. Max where we were and why we were in the desert. Dr. Max stopped and thought about our problems. He said in a calm voice, “If you want to go out of the Gobi Desert, you must work together. First, walk to a place called Cherry Mountain. It is 3.69 miles from Gobi Pond to the bottom of the mountain.” “Climb up the mountain and get three huge golden cherries from the tree on top of the mountain. Then, go down the other side of the mountain and you will see a cross and an arrow very close to each other on the ground.” Dr Max continued talking and became very serious in his voice. “You need to be very careful because if you step on the cross lightly, you will fall into a deep valley and can never come out again. Dr. Max frowned with worry on his face. All of you stomp your feet together on the arrow three times. A staircase will appear in the middle of the mountain. You will then walk down the long and winding broken staircase.” “It is dark and no light is inside, so you need to get all the cherries out, then put them on top of your palm. After that, they will became very bright and you can use them as torches.” Dr. Max kept on going with the instructions. “Eat a bit of the cherry when you were hungry then you will be full. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Lum Wing Tung, Fiction: Group 2

ave you all finished your homework?’’ asked Amy’s mother. “ ‘‘Yes, of course!’’ Annie and Amy said. ‘‘Our mother is very noisy. Let’s watch TV together!’’ Amy said. The TV program was about the Gobi Desert. H‘‘If our mother goes to the Gobi Desert, it will be quiet at home,’’ said Annie. After a while, they found out that their mother really went to the desert and got lost. They shouted, “Oh no! Our mother is lost!” Then Amy said, “We should go into the TV to find our mother.” Suddenly, a group of camels came out of the TV. “We can help you to save your mother. An ‘allghoi khorkhoi’ caught her. Follow us,” they said. They brought them to the desert and gave them a map which could help them to find their mother. Then, they started their adventure trip. “We are really in the Gobi Desert,” Amy said. “Yes, of course. Now, let me tell you a story about the allghoi khorkhoi,” an old camel said. “A long time ago, there was an allghoi khorkhoi. It’s home was under the Gobi Desert. Some people who lived in the Gobi Desert said it was just a story and some people said they have really seen them before. They said it was really awful…” “It’s so scary. How can I save our mother?” I asked. “We will help you!” said the camels. “It’s so late now. Let’s stay one night at our home,” said the camels. “Thanks you so much! Let’s go now!” said Annie and Amy. The next morning, they ate some bread and started to save their mother. First, the camels brought them to find their friends for help. Then, they started to go to the enemy’s home. On the way, they met the snow leopards, golden eagles brown bears and wolves. They were enemies. They fought and we were very dangerous. Luckily, the camels helped and explained who the real enemy was. Finally, all the animals promised to help save their mother. They saved her from the allghoi khorkhoi’s jail when it was sleeping. Finally, they went back home safety by the camel’s help. After they went back home, they said sorry to their mother and watched TV together. They saw their friends, camels, snow leopards, golden eagles brown bears, and wolves, in the Gobi Desert. They were all safe in there because they killed the allghoi khorkhoi and lived happily together. They said, “What an adventure!” New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Pong Hiu Yu, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, a pair of good friends, Mary and Tom, were interested in the Gobi Desert. So they went there to have a trip. They went there by horse. They were very excited because it was their first time on a horse. When Mary and Tom arrived at the Gobi Desert, they were very surprised. They Ocould not see any trees or animals. They just saw some little plants on the ground and sand. They were thirsty but they had already drunk all their water. So they kept on riding on the horse and they hoped that they could find some people and ask them for water and help. On their way, they saw a young man walking through the sand. They asked him to give them some water immediately. The young man said, ‘No problem! Let me bring you both to my home. My home is in a noisy village. I think when you go there, you will be happy. Oops! I forget to introduce myself. My name is Bobby. Nice to meet you!’ ‘Thank you, Uncle Bobby,’ said Mary and Tom. When Bobby, Mary and Tom arrived at the village, they felt very amazed. It was just like a busy market. There were some shops selling fruit, clothes and vegetables. At that moment, they felt very hungry so Uncle Bobby brought them to a restaurant near his home. They ate a lot of food, such as meat, streak, vegetables and chicken wings. They were full after the meal. Then the next day, Uncle Bobby took Mary and Tom to visit his farm. But when they arrived there, they could not see any cows working. Mary and Tom were shocked. They saw some camels working hard on the farm. They asked Uncle Bobby, ‘Could we ride on camels?’ ‘Of course, but you need to be careful.’ So they rode on the camels happily and played with them joyfully. After this interesting trip, Mary and Tom thought that they had learnt a lot from the trip. They wanted to visit the Gobi Desert again and again. New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, To Shing Hei, Fiction: Group 2

n my 10th birthday, my mother gave me three presents: a hamster, a cage for it and a book about deserts. The hamster was brown and white, with two small dark eyes and a fat tummy. The pet shop owner told her that this cute little pet was one year old. I was very happy with these presents because I liked hamsters very much. I named it Jerry. I Othought it liked its name too! On that day, before dinner, I brought my presents to my bedroom. I looked at the book for a while and watched Jerry climb the wheels in the cage. By watching Jerry play over and over, I fell asleep… ‘The night has come. How come Mum did not switch the light on?’ I woke up and rubbed my eyes. When I got used to the darkness, I discovered that I was not in my room. Instead, I was outside in the open area. By the dim light of the stars above in the sky, I saw the place was covered in sand, rocks and cactuses and some camels were resting in a station. Luckily for me, Jerry was sleeping in my arms and the book was inside my backpack. ‘Where are we?’ I asked myself. ‘We’re in the Gobi Desert,’ Jerry answered. ‘What? And why can we communicate in words?’ I was confused by my present situation. Jerry looked at me. ‘Steven, are you alright?’ ‘I feel alright, just curious why we’re here and why we can understand each other so perfectly?’ ‘I don’t know what happened. I was turning my wheel when I felt kind of dizzy. It appears that I unlocked a passage to the future. And here we are, in the desert in Year 3000. That’s what the camels over there told me.’ ‘Wow! That’s brilliant!’ I cried out excitedly. ‘Let’s explore the place around us.’ I suggested. As Jerry could talk to the camels, I knew that the station was a restaurant. I entered the restaurant with Jerry inside my pocket and checked if I could have some food. The shopkeeper was a pretty woman. ‘Anything I can help you with, boy?’ she asked. ‘Hi, I am Steven. Um…I’m hungry but I have no money.’ I replied shyly. ‘That’s okay. I am Daisy, and I can give you some capsules for free,’ she said kindly. I said, ‘Thanks a lot, but I have a hamster with me. Can you give it some food too?’ ‘No problem. I like hamster, too.’ Daisy agreed. At first, I thought eating capsules was yucky. However, it tasted very delicious. It tasted like salmon sushi. When I told Jerry about this, it said its capsule tasted like hamster food and it was yummy. Jerry and I were full by eating one capsule each. During our conversation, Daisy knew that I had no place to stay the night. She told us that she lived in the station and offered us a spare room. The room was large, with a huge, pink and purple circlular bed in the middle. There was a bathroom. ‘Relax! Take a bath before you sleep,’ Daisy suggested before leaving the room. When I entered the bathroom, there was a bathtub, with nothing else. ‘How can I take a shower here?’ I wondered. Suddenly, iron hands came out of the ceiling, undressed me, and cleaned me completely. Water was plentiful. Then I slept on the bed and found that it was very comfortable. When I got up the next day, Daisy’s station had started business. I offered to help, but she told me to play outside. At day time, I thought the temperature in the desert should be very hot but it was cool. To spend the time, I played ‘Hide and Seek’ with Jerry. I hid at the back of the station, and thought Jerry would be unable to find me. I heard some noise. ‘Jik, jik jik’. When the noise got closer and louder, I was scared and looked around me. I saw many iron snakes and iron scorpions, all crawling towards me. ‘Help! Help!’ I screamed. Jerry found me and we ran back to the station, with all the snakes and scorpions following us. Daisy came out of the station and told us to stand still. We did as we were told and all the snakes and scorpions disappeared. ‘It’s a mirage. Mirage, you know?’ Daisy asked. ‘Mmm…I don’t know,’ I answered. I took my book out and wanted to search for the word ‘mirage’. Abruptly, there was a cyclone that blew Jerry and me up to the sky. We were very frightened because we did not know what had happened. Then I found myself falling and finally fainted. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my mum standing over me. Jerry was next to me in the bed. ‘Wake up, Steven. It’s time for school.’ I got up at once and was grateful that my adventure in the Gobi Desert was a dream. New Tales of Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, To Veronica, Fiction: Group 2

It was midnight, but Willis hasn’t slept yet. He was still in his research institute.

Willis was a doctor. He studied history. A month ago, Willis found an old book on his shelf accidentally. It was called ‘Go to the Past’. He was so excited that he could have a chance to know more about history. However, when he was going to open the book, a fairy came out from the book suddenly! Willis was very surprised and a little bit scared. He asked the fairy nervously, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am the fairy from the Gobi Desert. One thousand years ago, a wicked witch wanted to destroy the world. And… stop! We have no time! Please follow me!’ ‘No, no! Where are we going?’ Willis shouted. However, it was too late. After a few seconds, Willis disappeared in his institute, and the fairy brought him to the ‘Time Tunnel’. They went back to the Gobi Desert one thousand years ago. ‘Wow! What’s that?’ Willis asked. There were a lot of houses, all mushroom-shaped. The fairy took Willis to one of the houses, which was blue. ‘Now, please calm down.’ The fairy said. ‘Let me continue. One thousand years ago, a wicked witch wanted to destroy the world but she lost three important things: the “Rainy Ring”, “Golden Cactus” and “Magic Musical”. While she went to the mirage to look for the Golden Cactus, a magician blocked her into a “Dicky Stone”. And now the stone was broken! Everyone in Gobi is in danger! If the witch finds the Magic Musical, she will be the most powerful person in the world! So, please help us! My grandpa said that we had a smart guy called Willis, so I went to find you!’ continued the fairy. ‘That means you are my ancestor! But why you are a fairy?’ Willis asked. ‘Since we had passed away, we went to heaven and Mr. God changed us into fairies!’ the fairy replied happily. ‘How can I help you?’ asked Willis. ‘So easy! Just help us to find the Magic Musical and steal the Rainy Ring and Golden Cactus!’ the fairy answered. ‘Let’s start our journey!’ The fairy took Willis to the Cactus Castle, where the witch lived. They were gingerly tip- toeing to the castle. They escaped from the soldiers carefully and they finally got into the castle. When they were looking for the three treasures, the fairy found a cellar under the floor. They went to the cellar like thieves and found that a tiny little bag was inside. They opened the bag immediately and there was a note. It said, ‘The weakness of the witch is water.’ The fairy and Willis read the note. The fairy used a pigeon to tell her grandpa to get a bucket of water. They hid in the cellar and waited patiently. The pigeon gave the water to Willis and they went to the witch’s bedroom. ‘Put down the water. If the witch comes in, throw it at her,’ the fairy said quietly. They were looking for the treasures. At last, Willis found the Rainy Ring under the pillow and the Golden Cactus was under the bed. They got out of the castle quietly. However, the soldiers caught them and took them to the prison. They were nearly hopeless. How could they run away? They were trapped in the prison for three months. They were bored. One day, the fairy used her magic wand to point at the pillar of the prison. Suddenly, something happened! The pillar of the prison changed into the keyboard of a piano and it was the Magic Musical! It became smaller and smaller and fell into Willis’s hands. ‘Wow! We have all three treasures now!’ said the fairy. ‘So… we can use them to escape!’ continued Willis. The fairy used her wand to put the three things together and they turned to a sparkling light. It led Willis and the fairy to go to the mushroom house. After they, the light turned into a small note, and there were some words on it. ‘Make a wish.’ The fairy, her grandpa and Willis had a discussion about it. And they finally made Gobi Desert into Gobi Oasis. The fairy planted a lot of plants and they lived happily ever after. ‘Hey! Wake up, Uncle Willis!’ said Ruby. Willis stretched and yawned, ‘What happened?’ ‘Just only a dream, Uncle Willis!’ replied Ruby. ‘And…how about my research?’ Willis asked nervously. ‘They are on the desk. Dad has finished the research and collected the information for you! Ha ha!’ Ruby laughed. He woke up and went to his desk. He saw an old book and the content unexpectedly was ‘Because of love, the Gobi Desert had harmony and peace ever after.’ New Tale of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School,Wong Ho Cheung, Fiction: Group 2

eter was a boy with red eyes. He had a special power. No one liked him. People thought he was strange. He could only live in the Gobi Desert. He hated everybody since no one wanted to be his friend. One day, a man called Morris thought, ‘No one has tried to explore the Gobi Desert! PIf I go there, I will be famous.’ Then, he found sixty people go with him. They bought one hundred camels. They went to the Gobi Desert by aeroplane. When Peter knew some people were coming to the desert, he decided to scare them. He ordered a giant spider to take them to the lava. Peter thought he could to take revenge and wipe them out, since no one liked him. The Giant Spider ran into Morris’s group but they were not afraid of it. He forgot to bring a sword but there was only sand and cacti. He ran to pick up a cactus. His teammates threw sand into the giant spider’s eyes, so that the spider couldn’t see anything. Then, Peter used a cactus to hit it. The giant spider cried out, ‘Stop! I know I’m wrong.’ Morris stopped attacking the spider. It said thank you and ran away. Morris’s team won but Peter was angry. It is hot in the Gobi Desert, so Morris’s team didn’t have enough water to drink. They needed to find a pool to take some water. Peter knew they must go to the pool. He ordered a fish monster when it saw them, to take them to see him. At night, Morris put up the tent but they needed to sleep in the sand. It was not comfortable. Morris ordered some teammates to find some food. There were no trees or plants. They couldn’t find fruit. Suddenly, a snake attacked them. They had of an idea. They caught the snake. Morris thought, ‘If there is a snake coming from the sand, sleeping on the sand is dangerous.’ He decided to go away the next day. The next day, Morris found a pool but he thought it strange because there was something swimming in the water. Suddenly, a fish monster jumped out and cried, ‘If you want to take the water from the pool, you must kill me first!’ The monster fish was strong. It caught them and put them in its bag. Then it swam to Peter’s home. When Peter saw them, he used his magic power to lock Morris’s team. He asked, ‘Why does nobody want to be my friend? Why does everybody think I am trange?’ Morris replied, ‘You need to be good! You can’t do bad things. I can be your friend!’ Peter knew he was wrong. They became friends. No one thought he was strange after that. disappeared, at last. After two months, they took a ship from China to England instead of a plane, because they were afraid of taking planes. Many reporters asked them questions about the journey in the Gobi Desert. They told them about it. Peter and Tom swore not to take a plane or go to Mongolia, China or deserts ever again. My Mysterious Experience S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School,Wong Yuk Tung, Fiction: Group 2

i! My name is Popopbaby. Do you have any mysterious experiences? Do you believe in the supernatural ? Let me tell you about my mysterious experience... One day, I wanted more inspiration. I ran to the sea. I walked around and looked around. I sat on the beaches, and then I was swimming in the sea. Suddenly, the Hweather turned terrible. The sky was dark and loud thunder cracked in the sky. “Oh no!” I cried. I was very scared ofthe strange wind. After that, a big whirlpool appeared. I was spinning on the surface of the sea. I froze in horror. I disappeared in a big whirlpool in just a moment. I awoke and opened my eyes. “Where am I?” I cried. I stood up and looked around. I found myself in a desert. It was covered with golden sand, golden sand and golden sand. It was soft, fine and warm too. I wandered about in the desert. I got lost there. I was scared and bored too. I looked around and I found treasure. Indeed, it was rubbish. I found waste paper in the sand. I was very happy and I used it to make a paper plane. I played with it to kill time. After playing, I was lying on the big, warm sand bed to see a beautiful sunset. Soon, I fell asleep. Snooz-z-z-z-ze. Where I awoke, it was dark. I closed my eyes because I was afraid of the dark. After a minute, I took a deep breath. I opened one eye and then the other. I looked at the sky. It was full of stars. On star like a diamond shone brightly in the sky. “Wow! What a beautiful night!” I yelled. “It is a beautiful scence. I have never seen it before,” I cried. I wished I could go home when I saw a shooting star pass through the sky. Soon, something strange happened. The sand was glow-in-the-dark. The sand was rising up and down. And the sand moved around the sky. I was fascinated. My eyes widened while I saw my paper plane became a Big Big Super Paper Plane. Soon, I heard a sound. “Welcome to the Gobi Desert!” I looked around butno one was there. “Please sit on the paper plane! It will show you around the Gobi Desert to admire the beautiful view.” I sat on it carefully. It started to fly up in the sky. I felt very excited and my heart was beating fast. It flew higher and higher over the valley, over the rain shadow and over the mountain. I sniffed the fresh air. I could see the barren rocky areas and the large gravel plains and the mines. I could hear animal sounds. Finally, it returned and landed on the sand dunes. Suddenly, an inspiration flashed in my mind. So, I wrote a poem on the sand with my finger.

Gobi Desert, Gobi Desert, What amazing natural wonders! Different views in different places, Few sand dunes and large gravel plains, Barren rocky areas and massive. The Bright star light at night, Sang sand song at midnight, Wrote a poem in moonlight, Love silent night right.

Gobi, Gobi, are you alright? You are hot! You have a high fever in summer. You are cold! You are covered with a white quilt in winter. You are angry! You are in a temper like dust storms in spring. You are kind!

You look after the endangered animals. You have even owned a dinosaur too. Who closed the long eyelashes to keep out sand? Who left the footprints on the ground? What a noisy sound! Walk around, look around, Hear the sound of the train, Clear to hear far or near. Who dug a hole in the ground? Who stole. your treasure underground? Did you mind the miner mining in the mine? The clouds of dust overhead! Face a lot of problems ahead!

Suddenly, the signs of the zodiac were in the sky and a big deep hole appeared on the sand. “How strange!” I thought. I looked inside the big deep hole. There were stairs. I walked down the stairs carefully. The stairs were very long and they were full of lighted candles. At the end of the stairs. There were three secret doors. I chose the middle one. I opened and entered it. There was a slide. I slid along the long, long slide. At last, I slid into a strange tunnel. An icy wind whooshed through the tunnel. It was covered with slime. There was full smell of protein. I swam in the tunnel until I reached the secret exit. Suddenly, a big hand reached out from the exit. It caught my head. I could hear the sound of woman, “Come on baby!” she cried. “Awww! Help!” I yelled and struggled. At the end, I fainted. “Popopbaby, my lovely baby, it’s time to wake up,” my mother said. “What’s happening?” I awakened from a deep sleep. I wiped my eyes with my hand. I looked around. I found myself lying on my bed. I saw the paper plane on my pillow. It was covered with sand. I jumped out of my bed and went to the bathroom. “It was a dream!” I told myself. My mind was whirling after all the mysterious experience.s I went white as a sheet when I looked in the mirror. I could not believe my eyes. There were some words on the mirror. “Do you like these wonderful adventures? It’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone else!” It was strange and difficult to explain! Do you agree? New Tales of the Gobi Desert S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Yeung Lok Yi, Fiction: Group 2

he campfire crackled with the shrill cries of the wind in the distance. The two teenage adventurers, Sarah and Jamie, sat next to the blaze, talking about the day’s plan on finding the legendary city in the Gobi. As dawn broke, the strangest thing happened. “What’s that rumbling noise, Sarah?” TSarah paused for a moment. She couldn’t believe her eyes. An immense sandstorm was coming from miles away as if it was a tsunami! “Run! Jamie, run! It’s a sandstorm!” she cried as she dove into the tent. Jamie just managed to only leave his feet outside of the tent when the sand poured down. His eyes blackened and he felt as though he was falling into a bottomless hole. He passed out in the flooding sand. When Jamie woke up, the wind stopped. All the sand vanished and a heavenly place like an oasis was right before his eyes. The campfire and the tents were nowhere to be seen. It was so strange, but it appeared to be even stranger as someone was missing too. “Sarah? Where are you, Sarah?” Jamie shouted into the distance. The voice echoed, and Jamie saw a shadow beneath the trees. “Jamie, come here!” Sarah was there, pointing to a path which led to the end of the oasis. Sarah and Jamie set out to find their way out of the mysterious land. When they stepped out of the oasis, a massive city stood in the land before them. It was the legendary city of the Gobi which they were looking for. They were greeted by the princess of the Gobi just as they walked through the gates. They went to the palace straight away for the meal together as it was getting late. Then, Sarah and Jamie spent the night there. The next day started with shocking news. At just one single night, all the farm animals, which lived in the barns of the nearest village next to the grasslands, were murdered. This tragedy was sure to affect the whole city, and must be solved once and for all. The culprit was suspected to be an expert who specialized in the environmental protection and claimed to kill animals to prevent overgrazing. However, the royal family decided to investigate this issue carefully. The King of the Gobi asked for Jamie and Sarah’s help to get some useful information about this issue, in case they had to question the culprit. They agreed quickly. The two adventurers, Jamie and Sarah, had deep discussions on revealing the murderer’s identity. Finally, they came up with a detailed plan to catch the murderer red-handed. At night, Jamie led a team of royal spies to a house near a barn secretly. Sarah went up to a tower to give instructions. They believed that they could see the culprit there. When everyone in the Gobi fell asleep, a shadow appeared in the barn. Then after a few flashes of light, the team sprang into action. Quickly, the murderer was caught. All spies left. It was found that the murderer was the princess! The princess told Sarah and Jamie why she did it. “Every year, sandstorms occur due to the desertification which is caused by overgrazing. In order to prevent overgrazing getting worse, I thought that it is the fastest way was to reduce the number of animals grazing. As all the farm animals in the barns graze on grass, I decided to kill them. However, I still left only a few farming villages which are not next to the grasslands. The others should transform into shops and other entertainment places,” the princess explained. Sarah and Jamie understood but sighed. They thought that it was not the best method to solve the problem. Finally, Sarah thought up some ideas to help the princess prevent desertification in better ways. Jamie persuaded her to tell the truth to her parents. Just at that moment, dawn broke. The king and the queen came to find them and knew the facts. The king forgave the princess, and the problem was solved. The two adventurers decided to leave. The adventurers were met by a breeze when they left the city. Again, their eyes blackened and they went back into the real world. They found themselves back in their tents with a gem on their hands. On the gem, the word “Thanks” was carved. Sarah and Jamie started to pack up. They had got everything they wanted, and it was time to leave this enchanted land. Sand-di-man Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School, Amber Diana Macafe Busby, Fiction: Group 2

aty Moore and Alison Dae reporting for duty!” said the two girls enthusiastically. They “ loved their new job as secret agents. Their boss Jeff then told them their mission. He said, ‘Girls I know this is only your second mission but this is serious. As you know, China is being desertified. But as far as we know, it is not a matter of Mother Nature, Kit is the evil Sand-di-man. Sand-di-man, as you may or may not know, is the crazy man-creature who lives in the Gobi Desert. He is so crazy that he wants to desertify the world. He is starting off with China.’ ‘But why?’ Alison asked. “Nobody knows,” said a lady. And she introduced herself, “I’m Miss Tiffany Garcia, agent of this agency for seven years. I am going to help you girls defeat Sand-di-man.” The girls left the agency and went to a nearby café with a big pile of documents to discuss the matter. When the girls were on the helicopter to the Gobi Desert, Alison was sleeping. Katy was eating sweets and Tiffany was preparing something. “We’re going to jump off the helicopter!” said Tiffany. Startled, Alison fell off the seat. The girls were wide awake and alert. Before anyone could say anything, Tiffany started talking. “All you have to do is jump off and pull the parachute. Now put on these goggles and parachutes and wait for me.” When she finished, the two others nodded and did as she said. Tiffany opened the door and counted down from five. When they landed on the sand, a wave of relief washed over the two girls. When they arrived at their temporary home, they found people waiting for them. As soon as they greeted the people, they rushed them inside and showed them their room. Some people gave them some goat milk and some food that they were not so fond of. They were not even sure if it was actually edible. Katy was the first to have enough courage to eat it. Alison and Tiffany both had a look of disgust on their faces. Katy gobbled up the slop in under two minutes. “What is this made of?” Katy asked the villager. “It’s made of…” he stopped as he was interrupted by a loud “baa” coming from a goat. “But… never mind,” said Katy to the other girls. “Let’s go to bed now, it’s getting dark,” said Alison. So the girls went to bed. When Alison woke up, the other two were up already. Although the Gobi Desert looked the same every way they looked at it, they still wanted to explore a bit more as it would help them recognize the area better. So they got dressed, had breakfast and went off with their camels. The villagers also warned them about the sandstorms that Sand-di-man was causing. Sand-di-man’s sandstorms would last for three to five minutes while real sandstorms would last fifteen to thirty or more minutes. They didn’t go through any sandstorms that day. Maybe they were out of range for Sand-di- man or maybe he was taking a rest today, they thought. The next morning, the girls were ready to search for Sand-di-man’s lair. This time they used their pulse finder. It was a little yellow machine disguised as a phone. As scientists discovered that Sand-di-man had two hearts, all they had to do was to find two red dots next to each other. After riding their camels for what seemed like a long hour, a sandstorm hit and it was one of Sand-di-man’s! It was coming from the south-east so they headed that direction. Once they were there, they were confused as nothing was there! They got off their camels and looked around, still nothing. Suddenly, a hole started opening up. Alison and Katy stared in amazement while Tiffany started taking a few steps closer. Alison and Katy started following her. “Do you think that’s the Desertifyer 3000?” Alison asked Katy. “What do you think?” replied Katy with some sarcasm in her voice. Then the gigantic machine generated another sandstorm. When it was going back in the hole, the girls jumped down with it. Down under was the lair, it was quite magnificent. They examined the place till they found Sand-di-man. He looked weird, sort of like a cross between an alien and a camel. “I see that you have come to stop me. But you are just a measly group of girls. Haha!” said San-di-man before he darted off. But the girls caught him. He gave a whack to Alison and a kick to Katy. Luckily they dodged it but only by that much. He was slippery. He escaped their grasp, but not without a punch from Alison. The girls needed also to stop the machine, so they went up to where the Desertifier 3000 was, and also found Sand-di-man again. They were throwing kicks and punches left and right but were still missing. Then, when Sand-di-man was walking backwards to get away from Tiffany, he tripped over the wire connecting the plug to the machine. But when she kicked him, she still missed. Katy accidentally pressed the button to bring the girls and Sand-di-man up. Now they were up high, Sand-di-man was starting to get a little scared and jumped over the edge. He was all right and escaped. Now their problem was the Desertifier 3000. They were trying to break the machine but the screws were too tight. Fortunately, they had bought the right tools. They worked so fast that they did something wrong and the machine started making sparks. The girls jumped off the machine as fast as they could. “BOOM!” went the machine as it exploded. “That was well taken care of,” said Tiffany. As they returned to the village, the villagers were happy. They only had a few bruises on them. When they returned to Hong Kong, Jeff congratulated them on a job well done. Everything was fine, until Sand-di-man strikes again! Untitled Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School, Geanna Trisha L Tobar, Fiction Group 2

‘I feel so sick,’ I thought, ‘I’m Valerie Quinn Kincaid! The devoted archeologist!’ After an hour which seemed like a whole day, I finally got out of the plane. On the way out of the airport, I saw a bulletin board that had many wanted posters, including posters of some famous bandits around the Gobi desert. After I took my belongings that were packed with archeology tools, I met my brother at the airport. He was an explorer who went around the world and wrote about different places. We rented a van and argued all the way to the Gobi desert. But as soon as we got there, we were both silent. I felt anticipation. I thought my brother did too. I saw big sand dunes looming over the distance. The desert was so plain yet so beautiful. Our next stop was a village. We saw a few huts and a few villagers who were scared except for one. Her name was Asha, she asked angrily, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’ My brother told her everything and she seemed interested in us. I was surprised: how would she be able to speak English? I thought the people in the Gobi spoke only Mongolian. Asha was actually very helpful. She helped us with interviewing the villagers. When we were going to say goodbye, she asked pleadingly, ‘Can you please take me with you?’ I sighed. My brother wanted her to come because if we got hurt, Asha could ask the villagers for help. On the way, Asha asked us a million questions. I was frustrated so I scolded, ‘Why do you have to know so much about us? Give us privacy please!’ Asha didn’t reply, instead she remained quiet until I found some fertile soil, which was perfect for digging. As I was digging ten feet under the ground, I started to lose hope. Suddenly, I saw something in the soil. I picked it up and yelled, ‘My first fossil!’ My brother came saying, ‘I found one too!’ We immediately cleaned the fossils as carefully as we could and put them in the van. These fossils belong to an Oviraptor, a small carnivorous dinosaur also known as the ‘egg seizer’ and a Protoceratops, a kind of herbivorous dinosaur. Suddenly, the wind got stronger. I knew what this meant. I said, ‘Guys, we should take shelter, a storm is brewing in.’ I pushed Asha and my brother in the van. The wind blew and made a ferocious sandstorm. The wind howled so loudly that we had to cover our ears. When the storm finally ended, I got out the van and saw some people riding on the Bactrian camels. They were heading towards us. When they got closer and closer, I recognized one of them; he was the bandit on the wanted poster! ‘Run!’ I whispered to my brother. He started to protest but I stopped him and said, ‘Now!’ He shrugged and ran. Then Asha yelled, ‘Hey, where are you going?’ She smiled as the bandits got closer. I was left alone with the bandits. I was scared. I tried to kick a bandit but suddenly someone kicked me at the back of my head. My vision blurred. I tried my best to look back when I saw a familiar face. ‘Asha? ‘I croaked. ‘Why? ....’ And everything was blank. The last thing I heard were faint laughs…. I woke up startled. I realized that I was in the van. Someone was feeding me soup. It was my brother. ‘Asha, she lied… Where are the fossils?’ I groaned. ‘Gone but that’s okay as long as you’re safe, we can find more. Don’t worry,’ my brother said. That night I dreamt of a baby Oviraptor that wandered far from its nest and is lost in the prehistoric jungle. I recovered after a few days not only from my sickness but also from the loss of the fossils. ‘The desert is vast. You can find many fossils there,’ I remembered what my dad told me. He was an archeologist too, a famous one. Then we came across some fertile land. As soon as I stepped on the ground, it broke. Literally. I fell into a hole. I thought this was the end of my career. Then I heard a splash! I had landed in water. ‘Sis!’ My brother shouted, ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘You’ve got to see something, jump in.’ It was a baby oviraptor that was frozen in ice. How could this be? ‘It stayed frozen for so long…and yet its body’s still preserved….’ I murmured. ‘Almost impossible,’ My brother continued for me. ‘Take it to the van now!’ I exclaimed, ‘It’s melting! Let’s take it to a lab!” We carried it to the van immediately and I drove to the nearest town. I drove so fast it could probably be over the speed limit if I were on the road. I took my mobile phone and dialed a fellow archeologist. ‘Hello?’ a voice answered ‘Hi Mr. Jackson, I need your help. I know you’re in China.’ ‘Right away,’ he replied. Mr. Jackson arrived earlier than I expected. When he saw the oviraptor, he was as shocked as I was. ‘You must be pulling a prank Ms. Kincaid,’ he said in disbelief. We brought the oviraptor to a lab where it was examined. It was put in a special room and was watched by CCTV cameras. ‘I’m so excited!’ I whispered to my brother. An hour later, the Oviraptor was moving. First, it growled. Then it sniffed around. Everybody watched in astonishment – it was alive! The next day, I was famous, my brother too. The newspaper headlines said: ALIVE DINO FOUND! I think this expedition was successful but we still had to solve this mystery of how the Oviraptor could stay alive. Once we finish solving the mystery, I hope we can find more of these frozen dinosaurs. I believe there are more out there. After walking one thousand and one steps down, you will see a door with an exit sign. This time, say the command, “Magic desert door, open for me!” The door will open for you immediately!” “Remember, if you forgot the command, you will never get out of there!” said Dr. Max seriously. “Good luck! I hope you can go back to the museum safely!” We followed what Dr. Max said, but it was not as easy as we thought. The mountain is very high and many camels were walking around us. The weather was really hot in the daytime and cold at night. When we almost arrived at the top of the mountain, there were lots of cactuses around the cherry tree. We cannot think of any ways to pick the three golden cherries. This time, Miss Musurelli took her backpack off her shoulders. She took out a basket and stick. She used the flexible stick to push the golden cherries down and used the flying basket to collect the cherries when they dropped. We thanked Miss Musurelli for her help. We walked down the other side of the mountain then stomped on the arrow. The staircases appeared. We entered the staircase and the entrance closed by itself. Cindy took out the cherries, all fingers and thumbs. She dropped one on the ground and another was thrown up in the air. We helped Cindy to get back the cherries and put them on our palms. “We spent one day walking down the staircase and we have almost arrived that exit door. Don’t give up!” said Cindy with faith. On the way to the exit sign, we saw a talking camel and we all jumped out of our skin. The camel introduced itself. It was Benny. It was kind and polite so we started chatting with each other. We became friends with Benny and it helped us a lot. It carried us on its back and took us to the exit. We thanked Benny and said goodbye. Benny disappeared from our sight. We said “Magic desert door, open for me!” The door opened. We were too thrilled to be back and we cried our eyes out! We saw Dr. Max in the museum and we were very thankful for his advice. We also couldn’t believe that we had come back by ourselves. We laughed happily in tears together. Predator Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School, Roseanna Bevan Woodman, Fiction: Group 2

ominic Scholars was an archeologist, an archeologist in a bad mood. Why? Because he had just been assigned a new partner for his latest project. Dominic did not like his new partner, and in this case it was a young enthusiastic partner, Toby. But then Dominic didn’t like any of his partners. DDominic was taking a trip to the Gobi Desert to study its animal inhabitants, in particular to the animal at the top of the food chain, the Boomslang snake. But at present, Dominic sat sulking in his office trying to sort out the flight details. Just then the intercom crackled and came to life. “Professor Scholars, Toby’s here to see you.” “Show him in,” said Dominic into his microphone that he had hidden in his sleeve. Minutes later, Toby entered the room. “Have you got the flight data sorted out?” Toby asked. “No, the blooming computer keeps crashing.” “Let me help you,” said Toby. And in less than two seconds, they had all the details stored and read. Dominic scowled, Toby shrugged. They bade each other good night. The next day the unlikely duo set off to Mongolia. They headed south from Ulan Bator on horseback. They stopped overnight in a yurt tent, where they were introduced to fermented horse milk. The next day they arrived in the desert. They pitched camp and took a nap – Boomslang snakes are nocturnal so they prepared for a long night in their observation hideout. By the time the sun rose, both were exhausted. This put Dominic in a bad mood for the rest of the day. They both went to bed. Toby woke up at noontime and, seeing his partner was asleep, went to have a look around. Toby found plenty of interest including a skeleton of something that looked like someone’s backbone. But when he went closer he saw that it was a skeleton of a snake. He knelt to examine it. And when he saw what it was, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. A Boomslang snake! But they are at the top of the food chain, he thought. Nothing eats Boomslang snakes because their venom is known to be incredibly poisonous. Toby quickly grabbed the skeleton of the snake and rushed towards his camp. Halfway back to the camp, a sand storm began to blow up. Toby knew what to do: he fell to the ground, holding his handkerchief to his face. A sudden wind whipped up and blew the skeleton from his fingers. The storm didn’t last long and in 15 minutes, Toby was blinking sand off his eyelids. But when he looked around, the bony specimen was lost. When he got back, it was evening. Dominic didn’t seem to have missed Toby. “I’ve found something big, Dominic, I think there is another level to the food chain. Something is eating our Boomslangs! ” exclaimed Toby. Dominic raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. “Sounds like you’ve been on our fermented horse milk while I’ve been asleep! ” “Hardly, I’ve been out in the field and I had a skeleton in my hands until it was blown away in a sand storm,” said Toby crossly. “Toby, you’re a scientist. You should understand that if there is no evidence, no one will listen to you and that includes me!” Dominic replied briskly. Toby turned on his heels and filled up his water bottle before stomping into the cold night. Dominic sighed in exasperation. And yet, something bothered him. So he pulled on his coat and pursued his assistant into the dark. In the distance, he could see Toby’s head torch. It wasn’t moving. He must have found something. Dominic quickened his pace. When he finally caught up with Toby, he found him quietly observing a living specimen making a nest. Dominic smiled to himself. So much for the evidence! Dominic opened his mouth to whisper something cutting when suddenly the ground shook and both men were flung backwards. A warm glowing ring of sand began to surround the snake that seemed to be frozen with fear. The sand ring started to rotate then rose vertically like a huge fountain that reached towards the stars taking the snake with it. Then the hot whistling stopped and the sand rained down on the men along with a completely clean snake skeleton. There was a long silence. Both men crouched in the sand, not daring to move. Toby was the first to shake the sand off his body and peek between his arms, with his heart still pounding in his chest. After a few moments, he glanced across at his boss who was gaping open-mouthed at the skeleton. Toby decided to break the silence. “I think we just found our top predator.” There was another long silence. “I think we should keep this between ourselves for the time being,” Dominic muttered, “I don’t think the world is ready for this subterranean predator quite yet.” “Yes, I think we should go now,” agreed Toby, collecting the snake skeleton into his bag. “Toby,” said Dominic slowly, “I’m sorry, especially about distrusting you.” This was a hard thing for Dominic to say and Toby nodded understandingly. As the two scientists returned to their camp, the sun rose in the east, casting long shadows over the dunes and their mysterious secrets beneath. Shortlisted

Olgoi-khorkhoi Sha Tin Junior School, Yoki Chan, 10

Prelude

or millennia, though she’s a vast open land, Gobi is more likened to a fortress with defences in forms of frigid sandstorms, parched lands and hostile mountains. Many have tried to conquer this land, only few succeeded. Yet however strong these defences are, legend goes that under the mountains of sand of Gobi hides an even more terrifying and Fpowerful protector in the name of the Olgoi-khorkhoi, so much so that it’s still feared by many Mongolians today. But Gobi now faces an invader with more force than even her best defences. Only time will tell if Gobi will survive. Somewhere in the south of the Gobi Desert, at the height of summer, soaked in sweat and bathed in sweltering sunlight, Dr Snow was lost. Being her first time in Gobi, she had to rely on her electronics, especially the car’s GPS. The GPS, regrettably, broke. She didn’t know how it broke, and worse, she didn’t know where she was. She tried retracing her route back to the town she started, but little did she know that she was already way off course. Dr Snow was in Gobi as a geologist working for a mining corporation tasked to produce a report for new mineral sites to mine. After hours of driving, she was desperate and disoriented. She was bewildered by the real image of Gobi desert. Far from being a mere desert, Gobi was a quiet display of contradictions, where searing deserts are flanked with snow capped mountains and grassy pastures. At the height of her disorientation, she was suddenly met by an iridescent pool of liquid. Colorful plumes swirled, swelled and spread over its entirety. Out of curiosity and wanting to rest, Dr Snow stopped her car by the shimmering body of liquid, she exited her car and went to touch the water. Her finger was coated by the lustrous water. Despite its beauty, being a geologist, she instantly knew that it was polluted. Inspecting the pool, she saw on its far side pipes and tubes feeding it with polluting waste. This might be one of the many ‘tailing pools’ used for the dumping of chemical mining waste. Not wanting to inhale the fumes, she decided to leave. As she stood up, she noticed a silhouette on the water. It looked like a tall column rising behind her, gradually blocking the sun behind. It became dim as if she was under a shadow. Fearing the worse, she turned around to look. As sudden as it appeared, the source of the silhouette had all but vanished. Instead, there was a gaping hole in the ground. “Anyone there?” Her voice trembled. It was silent, all she could hear was her racing heart beat. After a moment of silence, the cavity started to collapse into itself. Disturbed, she started to move away from the void. While walking away, she felt a slight rumbling in the ground underneath her. Not wanting to provoke more fear in herself, she dismissed the sound as overactive imagination. However, before she could gather herself, the sand shook violently. Something enormous was moving underneath her. She began to wobble. Losing her balance, she fell and struggled on the sandy ground. She soon regained her foothold, at which another abyss started to form. But this hole had a spiral of dagger-like teeth. It started to rise and it became a column almost as tall as Dr Snow. She could smell a stuffy scent of rotten flesh and blood. “This isn’t a hole or column, it’s a creature!” She was dumbfounded at the realization. Without a moment’s notice, the beast bent towards her direction with its gaping mouth. Instinctively, she leapt back just in time before getting caught. Dr Snow was aghast of the existence of such a creature, yet she was also awestruck of its majesty.

The creature wriggled out of the hole and stayed still, as if it was inspecting her. Snow reckoned it was as long as half a swimming pool. It was a worm. However, this worm was unlike any other worm. Its tapered body consists of toughened reddish segments, resembling an elongated armor-plated tank. Not knowing why, she moved toward the still creature. Nearing the worm, it pounced forward, but it did so with a sense of struggle. As she continued to cautiously walking towards the worm, it started twisting and turning. Though she was not an entomologist, Dr Snow had enough experience with worms to know that it was twisting in agony. The turning and twisting continued until their violent conclusion. All movement just suddenly stopped, the worm was finally still. Dr Snow moved cautiously until she was almost face to face with the worm. The worm was dead. Somehow, she knew that the pool of polluted liquid waste, a concoction of poisonous chemicals and metals, was the cause of the worm’s demise.

Though deeply shaken by her encounter with a worm-like monstrosity, she couldn’t stop herself from being mournful of the death of the worm. She got back to her car hoping to find a town; to find help and tell of her horrifying ordeal. After a few hours, she found a town and went straight to the authorities but her encounter fell on deaf ears. That night, she couldn’t sleep for still being troubled and saddened. Feeling helpless, she decided to complete her report, not about new mineral sites to exploit, but on how humans should change for the better. She wrote:

Today’s humans have proved themselves to be nature’s most dangerous animals. Wherever we go, we pave a path of destruction. Wherever we stay, we drive all else out. We are masters of destroying our one and only home along with everything and everyone in it. However, although we have the power to destroy and bring misery, we also have the power to change and bring good. We only have to choose. Either we choose to be right, or to be wrong. It is our choice. Treasure Hunt Sha Tin Junior School, Ian Fong, Fiction Group 2

ne cozy evening as I crumbled onto my cushion and read a book, a letter slid through my small mailbox, followed by a humongous package attention to Jameson Wong. That’s for me. I jumped up from my cushion to unwrap the package and read the enclosed letter.

ODear Jameson,

It is me, your uncle. I looked through my diaries and found a map, where you could find my treasure in the X on the map of Gobi Desert.

Love Uncle Bob

My sister Charlene and my nephew Jimmy rushed down the staircase and peeked at the map. Charlene said, “We’ll go to Gobi Desert to find the treasure tomorrow.” I turned green after hearing her crazy idea. Next morning when the sun rose from the mountain side, my sister poured a pail of freezing cold water on my face and soaked my pajamas. I put on my casual wear and walked out of the house. Suddenly Charlene pushed me into the car and Jimmy got thrown into the back seat. She drove the car to the airport and we boarded the plane. At first, I was fine and watching the movie. After 10 to 20 minutes, I started to get air sick and vomited. People next to me ran away like they were seeing an alien. As for Charlene and Jimmy, they ducked under their tables and people at the back stared at me. How embarrassing! After hours of torture, we finally reached Mongolia. Dead! I needed to ride a camel across the desert. When the camel started to walk I panted for water. After hours after hours we discovered a small pool. Immediately, we jumped into the pool, drank the water and refilled our water bottles. After that we continued our journey. At dawn, we saw a big dark shadow coming towards us. My sister grabbed a gun, and I was horrified. I thought it was a beast. No, how could it be a beast? All of a sudden I heard a few bangs and saw my sister firing such unknown creature. That wounded beast screeched and a crowd of beasts came charging towards us. My nephew screamed and we started to panic. We closed our eyes, held our hands and prayed to God. When we opened our eyes we saw no sign of the beasts, but we found ourselves in quicksand. We were sinking. Luckily, we grabbed our camels and they pulled us up to dry land. “Phew.” I thought as I climbed on my camel and we quickly continued our journey. Soon, it was sunset and I used my magnifying glass to set up a camp fire on leaves I had collected from the airport. After that we built a small tent and snuggled into our sleeping bags. I slept like a log until next morning. Jimmy, Charlene and I packed our stuff and rode our camels to continue our journey. Not for long… we saw a lot of sand followed by a big gust of wind and it was heading towards us. The wind and the sand combined into a sand storm and we were in the middle of it. We squinted our eyes and rode our camels through the storm. After the storm we found out some of our supplies were missing and the sun set behind the mountain. After about an hour, when it was pitch black and freezing cold, I heard something howling. I shivered and quivered. I turned on my flashlight and looked around but could not see anything. I heard another howl and saw a big bear standing next to the tent. We ran with our guns. The bear was really tall, approximately 10 feet with dark brown fur. It got sharp teeth and claws, chasing behind us. Charlene fired at the bear and shot one of its leg. We saw blood dripping down from its left leg and heard it screaming painfully. We watched the bear walking back to the sand cave. We returned to our camp, packed our staff and left at dawn. We rode our camels for days and nights and we finally reached the X on the map, which was the peak of rocky mountain. It was difficult for us to find the exact location because of the rolling sand plains. By using our large metal detector, we found the exact spot at the end. Thank God! We got our heavy shovels and dig. We dig for hours and found an old bronze rusty sign, which asked us to walk another mile and dig again. We all thought “Holly Molly, so far!” But on a second thought ‘we should continue’ so we followed the instruction, rode on our camels and started the journey again. It did not take long for us to reach the destination. We dig and soon found a chest with a key hole, but we did not have a key. Charlene said, “Why don’t we continue digging? We may be able to find more hints to help us? Thus we kept digging and there came a golden glooming key. Jimmy couldn’t wait and jumped to the chest with the key. He unlocked the chest and found gold and silver coins, gems and jewels inside. A box full of precious stuff. Yes, I couldn’t tell how many there were. There were probably thousands of gold and silver coins, diamonds, pearls, etc. Charlene giggled. Jimmy and I kept on singing and dancing like crazy. After all, we put the chest on the camel’s hump to bring it all the way to the airport. Next we boarded the plane to Canada. I fell asleep after such a tiring journey. I dreamt that I lived in a house, which was made of gold. I saw myself laughing with joy and mumbled to myself “Money! Money! Money! Not Everything is as it Seems Sha Tin Junior School, Lara Griffiths, Fiction: Group 2

s quiet as a mouse, Lily tiptoed downstairs, she opened the door and sneaked into the garden, just as the clock in the hall chimed midnight. Her light feet danced across the grass, which smelled like fresh dew and roses. Her frizzy red hair spilled across her shoulders and the bark scratched her hand as her slim, tiny body climbed her favouriteA tree. Atop the tree, Lily gazed out over the horizon, the moon reflected in her deep, sunken brown eyes. Lily loved being in the garden and she started to drift asleep in her tree. Lily opened her eyes and she was in the middle of a bare, rocky, arid place. She was parched, famished and freezing. Slowly, she got to her feet, sharp rocks cutting her. It was cold and dry at the same time. It was rather mountainous here, there were a few plants, but not much else. Suddenly, a group of camels crossed before her, and a man jumped off one. “Hello, weary traveller’’, he said. “W-Who are you?’’, Lily stammered. “I am Quebek the Nomad, you are now in the Gobi Desert, spanning Southern Mongolia and North Western China. It is probably rather far from where you live, traveller.’’ “Y-You’re a n-nomad, I-I’m in the G-Gobi Desert, but that’s s-so far f-from London’’, burst out Lily. “You’re from London?’’ “Yes’’, answered Lily. “You had better come with me, traveller.’’ Quebek seized her hand with his iron grip and hurried her along. Stunned, Lily was tossed into a caravan. The caravan started up and a few hours later, they arrived at a camp of yurts. A spiffingly beautiful girl opened the door. “My daughter!’’ Quebek announced. “Hello, my name is Yulsey!’’ she said. “Hi! My name is Lily.’’ “Come with me, you too, Yulsey.’’ Quebek led the two girls to the biggest yurt in the camp. It was superior and looked like something that an imperial emperor would stay in on a trip to Mongolia. It was cloaked in gold with pictures of red, flaming dragons. Quebek lifted the cloak and led both of them inside. There was a bed made out of blankets, a tiny wooden table, a little kettle and stove and that was it! Despite all its outer glory, it was not amazing on the inside. “Welcome to my home, I am the leader of our nomad troupe, you know,’’ Quebek babbled. “Where do you go to the toilet?’’ Lily wondered aloud. “We have a hole in the ground outside, we all share,’’ Yulsey whispered sweetly. “Would you like something to eat and drink?’’ Quebek questioned. “Yes please,’’ answered Lily. Quebek went to the cupboard and brought out some biscuits and a cup. He placed the packet of biscuits and cup on the table, and he filled up the cup with some greenish-brown liquid from the bottle. Quebek opened the pack of biscuits and offered one to Lily. Content, she sat munching. “I didn’t know that you could get tea in the Gobi Desert, let alone biscuits!’’ “There are many things that you don’t know girl, the tea is given to us by the very Earth. It is the Fusian tea, “The Tea of Life’’ in English. As for the biscuits, there’s a Welcome just round the corner!’’ “Wha….’’ Lily started. Before she could finish, Quebek snapped his fingers and a Welcome appeared before her eyes. The whole yurt transformed, as well, into an alluring mansion. “No!’’ Lily exclaimed, stunned. “Oh, yes! I’m a magic nomad. Ever wondered how I could speak English? All the other nomads speak a native language.’’ Quebek answered. Lily pondered for a moment. “So, why am I here?’’ Lily finally asked. “You see our whole village is magic. I have the ability to foretell the future, I saw that you would come to save us all from our enemies.’’ The next day, when Lily woke up, all was silent. Everyone else was sleeping. She strolled over to the tent flap and went outside. Suddenly, a hand clapped across her face. It was a bulky, hirsute man. He smelled like ale and whiskey. Quick as a flash, he grabbed a knife and set it to her throat. Then a thought flashed through Lily’s mind…enemies! Before she could speak, he carried her off to a cave and whisked her inside. It was dark and smelly inside and smelt like rotting flesh. The man shouted in a gruff voice, “You will co-operate or die!’’ Then, he released his grip on her and told her to go into a room and eat something. He led her through passageways, until they came to a door. He pushed it open, threw her in and locked the door behind him. The sound of footsteps drifted away (it had been a trick!) and she was left alone. Alone? Dimly, she became aware of thousands (okay, not that many!) of eyes looking at her. Then, the little light that was left, faded and they were in darkness. A few hours later, Lily woke up to the sound of grating in the keyhole. She crept closer and whispered, “Hello!’’ Her heart was beating as loud as a drum and her head was filled with crazy thoughts: “What if it’s that man come back to kill me?’’ but it was only a mouse! Then, the reality began to set in. Casting her mind back, she realised she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t thought if her parents and brother, Sam were missing her. They would be panicked now searching for her. And, what of Quebek, Yulsey and their funny little troupe, they would think that she had just abandoned them. She felt that she was doomed, she sat down and started to cry. For days and nights, she stayed in that dark cell with nothing to eat or drink. She survived by licking moisture off the condensation pipes. Then, lo and behold! The door burst open, “Quebek!’’ Lily shouted, and then she woke up. It had all been a dream! As she rushed, upstairs, she caught sight of a small, shiny rock in her pocket, and smiled. Not everything is as it seems!... The Legend of Theseus and the Nian Sha Tin Junior School, Winter Lau, Fiction: Group 2

magine a time, when terrifying beasts roam over the hills, deserts, cliffs, and plains; when courageous knights and princes come out of their stunning and luxurious castles to slay them, and when loyal apprentices join the hero’s side and save their lives. Well, this story is about that time. ICenturies ago, a half bull half dragon beast called the Nian, lived in China. Every new year’s eve, it would stride around China and gobble any mankind. An old man accidentally let off a red firework stick when he was about to be killed the beast, sending the sword horned beast running for its life! He taught all the people in China to do what he did. Post red posters all around their doors and letting off fireworks. The Nian was so scared that it had no choice but to run. It got as far as the Gobi desert in Mongolia. When it reached there it came across a dark and gloomy cavern and created a labyrinth beneath it! After settling in its abyss for some time, the Nian came out and started to hunt Mongolians. The population of Mongolia went down quickly because the Nian’s killing. King Minos started to worry about his country and finally he came up with an evil idea. He decided to attack other countries with his strong army to capture their people and drive them into the labyrinth to feed the beast. Soon, Mongolians began to fight all the countries in the west and east. Russians, Germans, Indians, Italians, Polands… all were driven into battle and lost every one of them. The whole world was shaking! China, led by King Ageus, fought fiercely with Mongolians, the battle lasted for many years. In the end, King Ageus found out what had driven the countries into such an ambition. So he convinced King Minos to stop fighting and promised to kill the Nian! When Ageus came back from the battlefield, he sat on the throne with anxiety. King Ageus thought over and over, thinking which one in his empire would be brave enough to kill the Nian. Just at that moment, a very determined voice broke the deadly silence in the room. “Dad, I am willing slay kill the horrible beast!” King Ageus looked down with his eyes full of darkness, he noticed his son – Theseus, wearing a suit of shinning golden armor kneed in front of him. Next day, early in the morning, Theseus mounted his white horse and rode peacefully off from the castle and entered the Gobi Desert. After correcting his direction many times, he reached the entrance of the labyrinth after many days. A beautiful girl with long eyelashes was waiting for him at the entrance. It was Ariadne - the princess of Mongolia. ”Prince, these may help you to fight the beast.” She handed Theseus a firework stick, a sword, and a ball of wool. “The ball of wool will help you find your way out of the dark, the sword will help you kill the Nian, and the firework stick will help you scare the beast.” In awe of her words, Theseus tied the end of the wool on a tree, and begun venturing into the darkness as Ariadne called after him, “Be careful!” Creeping along corners and slipping into shadows. All his senses were alert in case the Nian caught him by surprise. Suddenly, a growl like thunder shook the cave and Theseus’s head whipped around to make out the outline of the monster with flaring nostrils and two piercing horns that looked like they could tear iron as though they were tinfoil. The furious beast began darting forward with all its speed and strength. Ready to rip his heart out. As Theseus zipped out of the Nian’s soul stealing horns, he grabbed the firework stick and held it in front of him. Bellowing in fear, the beast darted away coming to a dead end. Taking advantage of the beast’s shock, the prince’s sword came down deep onto its spine. The beast howled in pain, too scared by the firework to react to the blow. The beast lay there, snarling and growling at the injury. In a false sense of security, Theseus stepped back to take stock. Wrong move! The beast leaped to his feet and barreled him over with one blow. Thesues’s mind darkened. He was growing weaker with every scratch he was receiving. His vision began to blot out. “No!” Theseus thought, “I can’t die like this, not when my country, my father, and Ariadne, is counting on me.” He angled his sword at the Nian and struck, leaving the monster sprawling to the stony pavement. Struggling to his feet, the beast pounded towards him. This time, those deadly horns will not miss. Theseus let out a cry and charged at him, sword at the ready. The son of Ageus scored the Minotaur in the belly. The beast let out a gurgling groan and collapsed to the ground in blood, its eyes blazing with fury and terror. Theseus had defeated the Nian. He stared in awe, replaying the previous battle over and over in his mind. A while after, the prince chopped the Nian’s horn, and tugged at the string of the wool started to find his way out from the darkness. When dusk fell upon China, King Ageus was sitting on his throne worrying about his beloved son. When a guard rushed into his room and reported “the Prince is here.” overjoyed, King Ageus climbed up to the top of the tower and looked out, far away in the distance, was a tiny speck of gold, becoming bigger with every heartbeat. When the golden dot took shape into a human, the King of china knew it was his son. One month later, Theseus married Ariadne and lived happily together. Mongolia and China united in the new kingdom called - Yuan, led by King Theseus. The Scroll of Peace Sha Tin Junior School, Haike Liu, Fiction: Group 2

ames was riding through the Gobi desert. The sun shone down on him as he rode on his horse. The ground was cracked. He had been riding like this for one whole week. Even under these harsh conditions he kept on going, because he had an important mission. James was a water bender and his master sent him to find the scroll of peace. He had to Jget the scroll because if an evil person got it war would rage until the end of the world. He had a sword which could cut anything and shone like silver. He knew the quest was challenging, but he could not fail his master. Soon night fell. The nights were always freezing cold and the sound of the coyotes made James have goose bumps. One day when he was riding his horse, the desert suddenly fell silent. All he could hear was the sizzling sound of the sun shining on the ground. Then the earth began to shake and in front of him a huge, red dragon erupted from the sand. It was as high as a tower, its teeth sharper than daggers. With a mighty roar the dragon attacked James. James darted off his horse, but his poor horse was gobbled in one gulp. James felt tears in his eyes. Swallowing down his fear and sadness, he grabbed his sword and hacked at the huge dragon. The sword only cut off a few scales. The angry dragon suddenly changed into a tiny snake and bit James on the foot. The water bender felt dizzy and the pain in his foot was unbearable. Trying to attack the snake, James felt so weak that he passed out. After he woke up the dragon was about to stomp on him. Despite the pain he rolled over, rose and splashed water into the dragon’s throat. Soaked by the water the dragon collapsed into a huge pile of mud. James stood there for a while then the mud pile started to wobble and out popped James’s horse. James was delighted and he hopped on to his horse and proceeded deep into the Gobi desert. After another week he finally saw a castle in the middle of a sand dune. He charged towards the castle, but it disappeared. It was a mirage! Then he saw another castle. He trotted towards the castle when he saw a knight dressed in black also galloping towards the castle. James knew the knight meant trouble so he fired an arrow at him. It hit the knight’s horse and the knight rolled off the horse. James scampered into the old dusty castle. On an old wooden table was a scroll glittering like gold. James grabbed the scroll. Suddenly he was blinded by a flash of light. When the light vanished, his master was standing in front of him, nodding at him with a smile. How Friendship Began Sha Tin Junior School, Marjovie Liu, Fiction: Group 2

HH..” hissed Gurgle, glaring at his twin brother, Jingloo. Only translated from Martianese. “ They have come to Earth for a tour and crash-landed on the Gobi Desert. There were humans around. They can’t know about the aliens. They don’t know about them at all. “Genghis,” somebody yelled. “Genghis Khan!” Slowly, A young man came walking in, Stalking to a beautiful Mongolian woman. The aliens stared at the lady. “Oh, mother. This is my friend, Lan Yue.” Genghis mumbled. His mother winked and smiled at him. Genghis walked into his yurt and burned an incense to his passed away father, for he had fought and died at war. Yet Genghis has dreamt to fight for his country as an army like his mighty, brave father. Gurgle and Jingloo wanted to find out more, they changed shape from a lump of sand into a couple wearing rags. They walked to and fro around the yurts and saw Genghis’ mother whispering to Genghis. He nodded and went to Lan Yue and said “Lannie, I need to go to the Dragon Palace. On the way, I’ll drop you of at the silk road so you can go home. Okay?” Lan Yue nodded and murmured “Shall I go with you?” “Erm….,”Genghis replied, “I want you to be safe.” He closed his eyes and sighed breathlessly. “Come to my yurt privately.” Genghis announced, suddenly seeming strong enough. He disappeared into the doors of the room. “Tell me why here! Am I ever going to see you again? If you’re not coming out, I’m leaving. Myself!” Lannie cried frighteningly. The aliens surprisingly gasped at the pair. Lan Yue’s small pretty eyes placed on the twins. Jingloo gulped. Gurgle began to shake like Je-lly. Genghis stepped out of the yurt and looked at Lan Yue. Then the fake couple made a fake smile. And they ran into Genghis’ tent. Genghis did a what-on- earth-happened-face to Lan Yue. “Solve the problem in your yurt first, Luvey” she teased. “OK, Sweetheart” Genghis sighed hopefully as he gazed at the beauty. “C’mon, in with me.” They pulled open the door but nothing was in sight. “Don’t be scared. We aren’t here to hurt you. Can we talk to you?” Lannie whispered in the faint glow of her candle. “Don’t come closer!” Gurgle spluttered, both frightened and shy while Jingloo counted Genghis’ marbles. “Wha??” Jingloo babbled out, staring at his brother. “Please. Even if it is a secret that nobody else knows. I promise we wouldn’t tell. Please come out.” Genghis sighed. “OK!” Jingloo became his normal shape again- an alien. It was too late! Gurgle couldn’t catch Jingloo in time… “Dude! They’re fine! I told them about us!” Jingloo giggled frequently. Gurgle heard something not very ‘suitable’ for his ear: Genghis and Lan Yue are planning to bring Jingloo along with them- for the aliens can perform magic! They need the martians help in their quest. I hear you say “What quest?” and I hear myself answer “Genghis is one of the seven men slaves to challenge the dragon and if it’s right, it’ll gobble it up. But if it’s wrong, you’ll get to be an army in the Phoenix City. But the setting is in a deep, dark labyrinth so even if you won, you won’t get to go out of the old maze…” Gurgle couldn’t help to step out of his hiding space and undo all the makeovers to reveal his true self. “But it’s not fair!” He exclaimed, “Both him getting to go and the not getting out of the maze.” “You’re going too, Gumbee? Is it?” Genghis said deliberately teasing his name. “Duh, like I wouldn’t go and, my name is Gurgle. G-U-R-G-L-E. Gur-gle? Yes. GGGUUUURRGGLLLEEEEE. Gurgle. Gurgle.” The strict alien said angrily. “Hey! No need that temper with me, I’m just joking.” Genghis glared at the green unidentified object, also known as the G.U.O. but when you read it like guo, it means fruit in chinese. “Tutti Fruity!” Lanny and Genghis shouted together, bursting out into laughter. “Let’s go now…” Gurgle moaned. Whatever! Can this story go to the Dragon palace bit now? All this is getting a bit boring! Okay Okay! So, they arrived at the palace, Lannie wished Genghis luck, the aliens hide in his pockets and they set of for the maze. The aliens worked their magic and gently knitted a glow-in-the-dark green string and tied it to the door knobs. The guards closed the door. Gurgle continued knitting while Jingloo let go of the string inch by inch, face glowing when the light reflected on his slimy skin. Jingloo felt a tingle in his back. The dragon is getting closer. He nudged Gurgle and Gurgle nodded. He and Jingloo combined their power to create a magic sword: it will automatically strike the thing when ordered. The twins nudged Genghis, handing him his sword and crossed their fingers tightly. Suddenly, a snort sounded. The dragon! Genghis muttered under his breath to aim at the dragon. He hurled the sword at it and there was sudden panting. The weapon was once again in his hands. He held up the bloody sword and shouted “DRAGON! AIM IT’S HEART!” The sword flew to the dragons chest and the dragon slowly disappeared. The team yelled, congratulating each other. They succeeded. They became good friends and were true heroes. They went to the Silk road while the aliens whisked back to mars, solemnly waving goodbye. “We’ll come back!” The aliens yelled. “What?” Genghis yelled back. The aliens launched a microchip into his ears and could now hear whatever they say no matter how far. This is how the beginning of their friendship ends… Escape from the Haunted Castle Sha Tin Junior School, Victoria Wong, Fiction: Group 2

magine a place dark and spooky, where ghosts haunt the sands, where animals are curious: this is where the story begins. In the Gobi Desert, there were three adventurous Marbled Pole-Cats: Marble, Hippolyta (Polly), and Cinnamon. They were as spotty as pigs with chicken-pox. Marble had caramel fur and chocolate spots while her friends had striking Iblack spots and beige fur. Polly was smart while Cinnamon was beautiful. One day the Trio was searching in the Desert. They were searching for the mysterious Haunted Castle that was inhabited by the Mongolians. They found it, but not like they expected it. Instead of looking old, rusty and ruined, it was beautiful: made out of silver that shimmered in the sun. It smelled like fresh flowers in a meadow but echoed like a ghost in your dreams. It did not look scary so they decided to enter… Before they could place a paw on the door’s handle, a hoofed leg stopped their path. It was Holly the Bactrian camel who had promised their mothers to keep them safe. “Don’t go my dears, it’s dangerous!” she begged. “Why not? No danger no fun. We’re old enough to take care of ourselves!” they protested. “Yes children, you should enter. For I will take care of you before you meet my master. I’m Delilah, the guard.” a sly voice whispered. They turned to see a dragon with fierce red eyes. “Yeah I agree! Yeah I agree! Yeah I agree!” It was 3 vs 1 but Holly still did not give up. “Don’t go near the door. DON’T!!!” she shrieked. But Delilah was up to her own mischief. Her red eyes were like balls of coal and hypnotized the confused pole-cats. They were drawn towards the door and opened the door just to hear Holly’s cries of despair. They arrived into a vast hall with three doors. One was sealed shut and the others were rusty and old. They walked closer to have a better look. On the sealed door was a riddle: The left has nothing right and the right has nothing left. Which is better, left or right? “The left of course! The right has nothing but the left has something even though it’s wrong! Something’s better than nothing! Let’s go left!” Polly could not wait to show off her wisdom. Once again they arrived in a hall with another riddle. It only had two doors but in the middle lay a plaque that said: What’s white, yellow or black and has holes in it? The doors had two answers: Cheese on the right and pasta on the left. “This is easy! Cheese!” said Polly. She walked towards the right door, “Come on girls!!!” Another riddle lay in their path: What is the most important thing in the world? There were three ladders that had one word on them: Wisdom, Beauty and Wealth. Marble chose Wealth for she was poor, Cinnamon chose Beauty for that was she and the wise Polly chose wisdom. They now faced their journeys by themselves. Marble found sacks of money dangling around her. She greedily grabbed them off and stuffed them into her pocket. Cinnamon found magical mirrors which flattered her and convinced her that she was the prettiest in the world. Polly managed to solve all the riddles on her way to the top that made her think that she was the smartest in the world. They met up again at the top of their ladders. However, they were not alone in the vast hall, for Delilah stood in their paths once again. The dragon breathed fire around Polly and demanded, “Fight me or die. I am hungry for FOOD.” The three pole-cats were all frightened. They shouted at each other, blaming each other for bringing them into the castle. “Quiet down both of you! I’m the smartest, so listen up! Just annoy her! Stamp on her tail! Throw things at her!” Polly ordered. The two other pole-cats stamped on Delilah’s tail, jumped on her back. This just made Delilah more furious than ever. As she prepared to breathe another ring of fire towards Polly, Cinnamon ignored the menacing fire, rushed towards her friend and pulled her out. At the same time, Marble threw her riches into the mouth of Delilah, and the blazes of her flame quickly melted the gold and solidified in her mouth, clogging it up. As the Trio rushed out of the hall, they embraced each other. “I thought my plans always worked!” sighed Polly. “And I was always the prettiest. Look at my face, it’s as black as coal. At least you’re safe, Polly. ” Cinnamon patted her friend. “I don’t have any money anymore but we got rid of Delilah!” Marble said triumphantly. Finally, they exited the corridor and met the Ghost King: King Ghoul. He wore a crown on his head, held a scepter made of gold and looked wise and old. “Children,” he said, “you have learnt a lesson today. Who can tell me?” “We have learnt that wis…” Polly stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked at her friends, “Wisdom, Beauty, and Wealth are not important. But Courage, Friendship and Selflessness are,” they answered together. “I, King Ghoul, tell you: remember these three important things, they will come and help you in the future.” He gave each of them a gem. “Keep this and you won’t forget what you have learnt today.” The Trio looked at their ‘gifts’. On it were engraved the words. “Friendship in golden, Courage in silver, Selflessness in platinum,” recited Polly as she gazed at the gems. Just as she said it, they found themselves back at the entrance of the castle, with the gems glowing golden, silver and platinum. “Finally, you’re back! What happened?” Holly rushed to them as they appeared. “It’s a long story, Holly.” The Trio winked at each other and smiled. The Desert Mansion Sha Tin Junior School, Gordon Wu, Fiction Group 2

Chapter 1: A Random Sand Castle!?

The sand blew, the wind rustled, and the sand slowly swallowed him. Steve the explorer was wandering around the Gobi desert, not really knowing where he was heading to. He was with his best friends, Jake and Peter. So as a sand storm faded away, to the explorer’s surprise, they found…..nothing. “Well, there’s nothing here.” Steve said disappointedly. Then he slowly turned around, and he found … nothing. When he turned back to his original direction, he mysteriously saw … something. “A sand castle? In the middle of the Gobi Desert?” wondered Steve. No kidding, it was about a one-meter tall sand castle. Meanwhile, Jake and Peter were approaching to the little sand castle. ”Wow, nice sand-cattle!” joked Jake, “Get it? Sand-cattle?” ”Not really.” mumbled Peter. As the explorers stopped in front of the little sand castle, the three explorers peeped through it and discovered a gigantic mansion with high sandstone pillars and everything. “Oh my god!” exclaimed all of them.

Chapter 2: is it really a Bottomless Pit of Bottomless?

So the explorers came right through the doors, but they saw another door. Then another! Then another! And so as the explorers tiredly opened those doors, they saw a library full of books made from sand. ‘Wow, it’s… Sand.” puzzled Peter. Then they saw roast chicken made from sand. And boy! Everything was sand. So they sat down on some sand chairs, (yep, more sand!), and discussed about the eventful things that had happened so far, while eating a divine feast which Steve took out from his pocket. “Everything recently has been so strange.” spoke Jake “Yep.” replied Peter and Steve. Suddenly, the ground opened, as if the explorers were worms, the ground was a person eating the worms. Then they fell into the darkness. ”AHHHHH!” shouted Peter. “I don’t really see a bottom to this” said both Steve and Jake. But just as Jake said that, they hit a pool of water. “I’m alive!” shouted Peter in Steve’s face. And as they looked up they all were speechless. “Wow,” they all thought, and surely they were shocked. For once actually they saw something that wasn’t sand. They saw a beautiful view of Mongolia, and a person getting sued in the black market. ”Let’s get a move on!” Steve voiced. But when Jake walked away, he triggered something on the ground. Then suddenly, the explorers were hijacked of the ground, skyrocketing up, and landing two floors deeper from where they were before. “Come on!” shouted Peter. Jake curiously turned around and spotted a large gold coffin. “What’s that?” Jake wondered.

Chapter: 3 in Which They Discover Some Pharaoh

Before anyone moved, the coffin started shaking and the ground rumbled. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the golden coffin. “Santa?” Jake mumbled, “Is that you?” The figure ignored him. And so the mysterious figure stepped into the light and revealed himself. They were speechless at the moment but just stunned. ”Oh my god.” Steve finally murmured. The three explorers were staring at a wall. But it wasn’t just any wall, it was an ordinary wall. However, there was a stone on that wall, moving by itself…. It was scary enough. But no, another figure stepped behind them. And as their shaking heads turned, they saw, white long strings, two ankhs and finally, a mask. It was a Pharaoh. “A pharaoh!?” wondered Steve. “In the Gobi desert!?” He turned, and saw a story carved on the wall. It all began, in ancient times, a powerful ankh was forged, allowing it to control life. But it caused so much conflict, that the gods split it into half. As if those two pieces were ever put back together, it could cause a major extinction of creatures in this planet.

Chapter 4: As in Horror Peter Doesn’t Know Something!

And sure enough, Steve saw those very two ankhs in the pharaoh’s hands. “So I guess we should take those ankhs?” Steve told Peter while Peter was reading the craved story on the wall. “Yeah.” replied Peter. Steve and Peter took the ankhs. When they removed the ankhs, a strange force that no scientific explanation could resolve, began to attract the two ankhs together, resulting Steve and Peter trying to fight against. “What is this strange force that no scientific explanation could solve!?” shouted Steve “I don’t know!” replied Peter. “You don’t know!?” replied Jake. “You don’t know where my favorite toy is!?” But eventually, the strange force beat them.”Noooo…..” shouted Jake;” I lost my toy!!!!!!” At the same time, the pharaoh’s eyes grew red, his body began to twitch, and grew a bit of moustache. (Who knew?). The explorers stepped backward, the mummy stepped forward, and…..a frog burped.

Chapter 5: The Worst Explorers in History

As the pharaoh stood up, the explorers were just speechless. It was a really scary sight. When the pharaoh approached, he lifted his hand and smashed to the ground. But Steve was prepared for particularly beating up a mummy inside a weird sand castle, with a big mansion inside, and falling into the bottomless pit of bottomless, and being hijacked of the ground and landing two floors deeper. So he got a stick, and started hitting the pharaoh. It actually worked! “Hooray for Steve!” shouted Jake and Peter,”Hooray!” but little that they knew that without the pharaoh’s power, the temple would explode. So it did. Instantly, the three explorers flew all the way to the end of the Desert. “I’m alive!” shouted Steve in Peter’s face “revenge” he muttered. Since then, Steve, Jake and Peter were regarded as the worst explorers ever! Little Miss Stubborn and the Gobi Sha Tin Junior School, Zoe Ying, Fiction: Group 2

ittle Miss Stubborn was very stubborn. Once she’d made up her mind, there was not changing it. One morning, little Miss Stubborn decided to go to the Gobi desert for a holiday. Of course, when she made her mind up there was no changing it. LSo she set off on her trip. She came to a crossroad and decided to go left. A Gobi bear came by. “Don’t go left! You’ll be fried!” he cried. “NONSENSE!” snorted little Miss Stubborn. “I can go where I want!” So leaving the bear saying “NO” and “Don’t” little Miss Stubborn continued on her journey. But the bear was right. The sun shone down, right on little Miss Stubborn, giving her an enormous suntan. Evening came and a sleepy Wild Bactrian camel mumbled “here’s a tip. Find somewhere warm to stay. The Gobi is very cold at night.” “BAH! How can a desert be cold?” muttered little Miss Stubborn. And she scuttled away without another sound. But the camel was right. As the moon lit up the sky, little Miss Stubborn shivered. And sneezed. “It’s not a bit cold.” She muttered. ACHOO! The next morning, she met a Gobi rattler “SSSS. Don’t go right, a sandstorm is about to happen there” hissed the snake. “Humpf! I can decide myself.” she shot back. She stalked off. Then the sandstorm began. Wind howled into her ears and dust blew in her eyes, so she couldn’t see. She collapsed in the sand, unconscious. She woke up the next morning, sunlight streaming into her eyes. She saw the face of a nomad looking down at her. “Sain baina,” said the nomad. “We are Mongolian people. There are our Yurts (pronounced Ger) But little Miss Stubborn was not listening. She had rudely raided the egg supply and was cooking a giant omelet for herself. She was eating it, sneezing between bites. With a ferocious “YAAAAH!” the rest of the villagers entered the yurt and they were very surprised when they saw little Miss Stubborn eating her omelet. Achoo! “You’ve got a cold,” the chief grumbled. Miss Stubborn answered, “no I -Achoo! Hav-choo! Ent!” “We do not have the immunity to fight such disease. You must leave our village at once!” Without hesitation and halfway through one of her bites they scurried her out of the yurt. You can see how Stubborn little Miss Stubborn is, can’t you? And she sure learned that being stubborn doesn’t make friends (and leaves you with an empty tummy) achoo! An Animal Tale of the Gobi Desert Shak Chung Shan Memorial Catholic Primary School, Chau Hui Tung, Fiction: Group 2

i! I’m Jacob and I have such long legs that my friends look so teeny to me. My neck is still short but it will grow longer when I become an adult. I also have a hill on my back where Tommy and Mandy always sit on. Can you guess what am I? I am a camel. Tommy is little as a rat that’s why he is called the kangaroo rat. He has an elongated tail too. HMandy is a meerkat and she can stand on her two feet. I am going to tell you an amazing story. We were born in the wavy sand dunes of the Gobi Desert and we lived with our family ever since we born. The desert feels like a blazing fire in the day. On the other hand, it’s chilly and biting cold at night. There are Chainfruit Chollas, Mojave Asters and all kinds of cactus so we never worried about our food and water. But now, there are changes. Human are destroying the desert for their own good. The number of people is increasing in the world so people start to build houses in the desert because there aren’t enough space in the cities. This is a disaster we desert animals had never faced before. People have forced us to leave or even more cruel, to be killed. There were killings every single day and families of the desert animals who we once knew were disappearing one by one. Their meat and skins were taken by the humans for food and coats. Their bones were discovered weeks after they died. The humans were deaf to our anger. Sadness and anger replaced the laughter and joy among us. We decided to act before the humans could capture and kill any of us again. Only one choice was clear to us – challenge the humans or wait for our turn to be captured or killed. “You know what? I can’t bear this any longer,” cried Tommy. “Me neither,” Mandy agreed tearfully. “What awfully cruel creatures those humans are,” I thought to myself silently. I peered out of the cave where we huddled. The tents of the humans were not very far away from us. I could see smoke coming from their tents. There were lots of plants between our cave and the tents. I soon discovered that the best way to get to the tents is to dig tunnels. Then, we could frighten them away with creepy shadows, kicking and biting noises. The animals are ready to fight back. All the desert animals rallied together to fight for their homes. After working for our lives under the flaming sun to plan for this fight, we were all cottonmouthed and tired so we laid down on the golden sands to take a break. Soon, the tunnels were dug. Everything was done and we set off in the freezing night. Once we were outside the human’s tents, everyone attacked. We lit a huge bonfire right outside the tents and we kicked the ground and bit grass to make noises and ran around the fire crazily to cast shadows. Finally, the humans ran away as fast as their legs could carry them and never looked back. That night, we declared that victory was ours. We were glad that not a single camel or kangaroo rat or meerkat was hurt by human in the great battle. Peace was back and we lived on as we did before the humans came. The battle lives on, passed down from animal to animal as the Great Animal Battle of the Gobi Desert. Animals from every corner of the desert came for refuge and to hear of this great battle. No human dared to come closer to the Gobi Desert after that. Well... at least there won’t be any humans living in the Gobi Desert as long as the animals pass on their spirits to their children. A Deadly Tale Shanghai Singapore International School, Chao Ethan Samuel, Fiction: Group 2

ho am I? Where am I? Who are they, why did they do this? Bob stood there in the middle of the desert. The scorching heat was unbearable, he was going to faint. In his sight, he saw a faintish figure. Its black beady eyes made it look terrifying. He thought that he was hallucinating or maybe even dreaming. It started to grow biggerW and bigger until it looked enormous. He started to go backwards but stumbling a few times. He could only look on as the thing looked as if it wanted to eat him alive. He braced himself for the impact but suddenly it was driven away by a loud screeching voice. He was rescued. As the rescuers approached him, he knew that they were natives, people who looked different from him. They looked at him in curiosity. They started mumbling among each other, as if discussing what they should do with him. They stared at him intensely and he didn’t know what to do. Before he could run or do anything, he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was in a circular tent. The structure was covered in layers of sheep skin and cloth. He immediately thought of the people he saw before he blacked out. He got up and went out of the tent. He saw the people sitting around a fire and tried communicating with them but it only seemed to make it worse. They started getting agitated and started yelling at him. Bob in his frustration, yelled, “I don’t care about your issues. I’m British and that’s what matters most!” He then realized that his conscience took over but he did realize that he was British and he was in a foreign land. He ran as fast as he could out of desperation, heading towards nowhere into the arms of darkness. He paused for a moment to orientate. He felt slimy things and heard loud hissing. When he tried to move, he realized that he couldn’t move. He was poisoned. The bite was too venomous for a snake as the pain was excruciating. It must have been something else. Bob was in so much pain, that he thought that the world was coming to an end. The ground beneath him started to sink in. Unable to grab hold of anything, he was at the mercy of the sinking sand. The fall seemed everlasting and he didn’t seem to land but when he did. Bam! He landed with a thud. Bob looked up to find two bulky looking men staring at him. One of them was Jack who was working with the military and Bobby was a doctor and scientist working on a secret mission in the Gobi. Bobby helped Bob with the venom and took a sample of it. When Bobby examined the sample, his face looked shocked. “My Gosh” he said, “It’s here! The death worm is here! Get ready the nuclear bomb and the cage.” The creature was the one that Bob had first encountered in the Gobi Desert and before he fell. Bob was in the hot spot. He gave Bobby and Jack a description of the terror. Within minutes, the death worm was caught in the cage designed as part of the secret mission. It tried spitting acid but nothing happened. Jack threw a bomb at the death worm while the other two ran as far as they could. The bomb was detonated. It was so strong that the whole base was destroyed. Their disappearance never made it to the news. No one seemed to even remember the existence of Bob, Bobby and Jack. They were never heard of ever again. It could have been the bomb or whatever the monster had produced that probably devoured them. If that was true, that means it still lives. Renewed Hope Shanghai Singapore International School, Lee Wei Shannon, Fiction: Group 2

e staggered as he dragged his lead like legs across the plains of the Gobi desert. There was nothing for miles, except for an occasional tuft of grass springing out of nowhere in the fractured and cracked land, a definite victim of drought. Kaiden felt like he weighed a thousand pounds and his clothes clung to him uncomfortably. A gash above Hhis eye was crusted with dry blood, and his eyes were swollen and blurry. His head was throbbing with a numb pain. His knees buckled, surrendering to the relentless pain in his muscles. A few days ago, he came with a Mongolian friend, Amir, to the Gobi desert to escape the pressure of work, the tall skyscrapers of the Big Apple, but really, Kaiden himself was just running away from the painful truth of his wife, Rene’s death. She was an adventurous woman and a brave one too. However, the last thing he did with Rene was argue, and the minute she stormed out into the road, a drunk driver ran over her. He went trekking yesterday, trying to find calmness in the surroundings before him, when he slipped and rolled down the sand dune. He was lucky he hadn’t broken any bones but merely got off with a few scratches and bruises. But blood was flowing profusely from the gash on his forehead. The dune was too steep to climb and his tent was pitched on the other side. Kaiden decided to find another route to safety, navigating with his map. Suddenly a strong gust of wind caused the map to take flight, out of his hands and over the dunes. ‘Great,’ he had thought. Since then he had been wandering aimlessly towards an unknown destination, hoping he would meet someone along the way. The horizon seemed to be playing a game of tag with him, because with every step Kaiden took, the horizon seemed to back up a mile. Now, he was lying on his back, the merciless sun beating down on him, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He squinted against the threatening sun-rays, drifting in and out of consciousness as he whispered, voice trailing, “Re…ne…sorry…” Kaiden woke to terrible pain. His hands instinctively flew to his leg and clutched it tightly. Blood was flowing freely from two puncture wounds. His attacker hissed, slithering nearby. The pain was unbearable, and his mind was screaming silently in agony. Kaiden had a sudden ridiculous thought, ‘Is this what hell is like?’ The devil like creature before him swayed in a hypnotizing way, and it suddenly grew another head as Kaiden’s vision blurred. Eyes rolling back into their sockets, the grip on his leg went limp. Opening his eyes to blinding white light, he frowned, confused. ‘Heaven…?’ He felt as if he had just awoken from a satisfying deep sleep, and everything seemed to be a little too bright. A slender figure walked towards him in the distance, her wavy blond hair blowing in the sudden breeze, all seeming a little surreal. The light blue satin dress she wore hung casually on her. A down to earth gold ring on her finger glinted in the sunlight. Both the dress and ring seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn’t seem to grasp hold of the memory. Suddenly, something about the twinkle in her eyes caught his eye, the same it did when he first met her, 4 years ago. “Re---Rene?” Kaiden stuttered, not believing his own eyes, “What are you doing here? I mean, where am I? What’s happening?” Rene smiled softly at him, and caressed his cheek. A distant rumbling tore Kaiden’s gaze from her. A fruit-bearing tree an awkwardly twisted trunk erupted from the rainless and impoverished An Unforgettable Experience In the Gobi Desert Shanghai Singapore International School, Ng Chyi Shien Nicole, Fiction: Group 2

ew Year’s Eve is the most exciting day of the year. I would go camping out with my old friends. We had done this for the past fifteen years. It felt good to see my friends again. I felt extremely thrilled that a rush of adrenaline went through my body. We met at the sandy camping site that we had agreed on. By the time we finished setting up our tents, Nit was evening. We set up a small fire and danced and sang beside it. When we got tired, we sat around the warm fire and roasted chicken wings. We began to take turns sharing our experiences. When it was my turn, I decided to share about my experience that happened here years ago. I was a young archaeologist then. Before my time, many archaeologists had found many pieces of a complete fossil, but they never found the last piece. Since all the other archaeologists found the fossil pieces in the Gobi Desert, even the first dinosaur egg, I was naturally assigned to go to the Gobi to search for the last piece. I was accompanied by my fellow archeologist, Brian. We set off on a sunny day. When we got to the desert, it was night. We set up our tent and went to sleep, feeling exhausted. The next morning, I woke up feeling cold, upon seeing Brian still asleep, I went outside the tent and looked at the sky. The horizon was splashed in different shades of orange and yellow. The harshness of the desert seems to magnify the beauty of nature. “You are up early! Excited?” a voice called from behind me. I turned and saw Brian. I nodded my head. “Let’s eat and get ready! It’s going to be a long day!” We took out our canned baked beans and sausages. As we ate our breakfast, Brian suggested, “Shall we split up to find that fossil piece today?” “Sure!” I replied. After we finished our breakfast, we changed and got ready to look for the fossil piece. “If you have any problems or if you want to have lunch, call me,” Brian said. I nodded as I bent over to tighten my shoelaces. I thought I heard a low chuckle as I went out of the door, but I shrugged and kept walking. ‘I must be hearing things,’ I thought. I started by searching in the North, guided by the compass that was in my pocket. Hours passed but my search was futile. I decided to go back to our tent to have lunch before I continued searching as I was getting hungry. I called Brian. “Hello, Brian, have you found anything yet?” I asked. “Nope!” he answered. “Shall we have lunch first before we continue?” I asked. “I’m getting hungry.” “Sure!” Brian agreed. “Let’s meet back here, I mean, back in the tent, okay?” I was slightly confused by his words, but I agreed and hung up. I felt for the compass in my pocket, but it wasn’t there! I started to panic. Soon, I calmed my nerves and remembered the compass in my phone. What a great invention! I followed the compass and walked back to the tent. I realized that things were terribly wrong when I stepped foot into the tent. All my things had disappeared! My backpack, my sleeping bag, everything was gone! I tried calling Brian, but his phone was turned off. Panic struck me again. Suddenly, I saw a note on the floor. I picked it up. It read, “Farewell!” I gasped in horror as the truth struck me like lightning. It must have been Brian who stole all my things! I rushed out of the tent hoping to catch a glimpse of that rascal. I walked and walked, and before I knew it, it was night. I felt so thirsty and hungry that I thought that I was going to collapse. My throat was parched. Suddenly, lightning struck the sky. The sound of the thunder boomed in my ears. It started to rain heavily. Raining in the desert? Should I be counting my lucky stars now? Feeling lousy, I trudged on, still catching no sign of any life. I felt cold, and I was soaking wet. My tummy rumbled like the thunder. I couldn’t take it anymore. The whole world swirled around me. I fell backwards, and suddenly the world went black. When I came around, I realised that I was in a yurt. A nomad was staring down at me. “Where am I?” I asked. The nomad was gesturing wildly, trying his best to explain something to me in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Looking around the yurt, a broken piece of bone caught my attention. “May I e...xa…mine that?” speaking slowly hoping that he could understand between syllables. The nomad took the bone and showed it to me. I took out the magnifying glass which was surprisingly still in my pocket. It was the last fossil piece that we were looking for! “May I t..ake th…is?” I asked the nomad. “I was a…ssign…ed to find this piece of f…o…ss…il!” Perhaps, he understood what I had said. Gently, he clasped his hands in mine, assuring me that it was all right to keep the fossil. I thanked the nomad and flew back home to give the missing piece to my boss. Brian was nowhere to be found. He never returned from the Gobi. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Shanghai Singapore International School, Helena Xie Overgaard , Fiction: Group 2

n the Gobi Desert, there lived a man, not just any man but a special doctor. This doctor was called Dr. Rabut. He was a special doctor because he could cure every single sickness. Not many people know this doctor because he lived in a part of Gobi that was hard to reach. He chose the Gobi Desert because there are many rare plants and animals such as the Saltwort, IEphedra, Saxual trees, Jerboas, Snow leopards, and Gobi bears, that can cure sicknesses. Dr. Rabut knows that if a patient has the determination to find him, they will also have the will power to get well. In another part of the world in Vietnam, there was a man, Leo. He had a very serious case of asthma that doctors refused to treat. His asthma made it hard for him to work and earn a living. It was getting worse as he grew older. He heard of Dr. Rabut and decided to find him. While Leo was on a plane from Vietnam to the Gobi, Dr. Rabut was out in the desert, but near his small yurt, searching for new rare species of plants and animals. Once Leo landed in the Dalanzadgad Airport, he started his long journey. First, he bought a camel. He read that it would be difficult to walk in the desert and he knew his asthma will not take him far. He asked the locals if they knew in which direction he should go to find the so called “Amazing Doctor”. The locals told Leo to go east until he finds a small yurt. So, Leo started riding his camel in that direction. After 3 hours of riding, the sun started setting. He decided to take a rest. Luckily, Leo had brought many bottles of water. That evening, he finished the last bottle because he was so thirsty. He found a spot where grass-like plants with small flowers were growing out of the rocky ground. Feeling thirsty and sensing the asthma starting, he grabbed a leaf and started to chew it. He then felt some water coming out from the leaf and began to eat the whole leaf. He set up a tent to call it a night. Just as he was about to drift into slumber, he heard some very loud howls of wind. He was pretty sure it was going to be a sandstorm so he rode his camel to a safe shelter and rested there. The next morning, Leo started his journey again very early, he coughed non-stop the whole morning. He also didn’t have any water left so he didn’t have anything to drink which made his cough worse. He tried to get over his thirst by swallowing some saliva. Again, he found the same plant he ate the previous day and chewed on it to make himself feel better. After travelling towards the east for a long time, he reached a small yurt! He banged on the door excitedly, almost breaking it. Dr. Rabut came out and greeted him with a wide smile. Dr. Rabut was not surprised to see his uninvited visitor since he occasionally got visits from strangers. Leo sat down inside and told Dr. Rabut all about his health and his journey to find him. Dr. Rabut gave him a bottle of potion and told him to drink one cup every day. He showed Leo the plant that he had used to concoct the potion and explained that it is the Ephedra plant that grows in the Gobi desert. Leo realized he had eaten the Ephedra leaf for his thirst and that was also the cure for his ailment. Since then on, Leo lived many more years without serious attack of his asthma and he visited Dr. Rabut every one to two years to get the Ephedra potion! land, clouds of dust rising from its awakening. Its roots thrashed about, coming towards them violently. Rene looked unfazed. On the other hand, Kaiden seemed paralyzed, a frightened expression plastered on his face. Rene plucked a pink-colored fruit from its branches, and inspected it before offering it to Kaiden who took it gratefully. Rene smiled softly at him, and caressed his cheek. He could feel his lips moisten. “Don’t lose hope. Don’t forget that I’ll always be here for you.” she said gently, holding her husband’s hand soothingly, “This tree, is strong, just like you, I know that. Don’t give up. Go ahead and push through the difficulties, just like how this blossoming tree has grown from a dry, arid land. Know that I’ll always love you, Kay, but life has to go on.” “Wait, what?” Kaiden asked, “You’re leaving me?” “I’ll never leave you, I’ll be right here, with you.” Rene placed her hand over his heart and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Remember, don’t lose hope.” She stood up and walked towards the blinding lights. Kaiden awoke to many tanned faces looking down at him, speaking in a language he could barely understand. It was the tribal people whom he had made friends with days before. “Kaiden!” cried his friend, Amir, rushing towards him. ‘Oh, I thought you had died when you suddenly disappeared yesterday!” Noticing his swollen leg from the snake’s bite, he widened his eyes and said, “God, you’ve been bitten by a snake? We have to get you to the woman doctor in the next village. You’re quite lucky that it doesn’t seem like a poisonous bite. You could have died.” They heaved Kaiden up, who whispered a faint thank you at them, knowing that for now, the desert had given him a renewed hope to live on. Gobi Mountain Shanghai Singapore International School, Gouri Sumal, Fiction: Group 2

illions of years ago, there was a time when humans did not exist and dinosaurs roamed freely. All the animals, trees and mountains could talk. The mountains ruled the world. Among the mountains, Gobi Mountain was the most powerful and strongest one. But he was also cruel, ferocious and dangerous. No living things Mexcept a few plants like cacti and needle grass lived there. The mountain had a huge mouth the size of a dinosaur. He ate animals, and as per his demand, every day, before the Sun sets, three animals should go to him to satisfy his hunger or else he would shake the Earth. While the number of animals decreased, Gobi Mountain grew stronger day by day. One of the monkeys, Murky, the smartest and cleverest of all was extremely miserable because he lost three of his best friends and he decided that Gobi Mountain should be destroyed for the safety of all the animals. He gathered the animals that he could find and said, “Dear friends, I think it’s high time we put an end to this situation and destroy Gobi Mountain as we are losing all our friends and family members. I have a plan. It’s very dangerous and highly risky. But I need your support. If we unite, we will be able to destroy the mountain.” Since Murky was known for his intelligence and brilliance, the animals readily agreed to help the wise monkey. Following Murky’s plan, the animals assembled together at one place and started marching towards Gobi Mountain. The mountain was was having his usual afternoon nap when he heard a very loud and thunderous sound. At first, he thought that it was thunder, but was soon shocked to see clouds of dust coming closer and closer. “Oh my! What’s this?” he thought. When the clouds of dust cleared, he saw hundreds and thousands of animals marching towards him. “What a special feast I’m going to have today!” he smirked and little did he know about Murky’s plan. Soon, under the leadership of Murky, all the animals started climbing Gobi Mountain. Gobi Mountain got very excited upon seeing all the animals running towards him. Thinking that he was going to have a feast, he decided to go for the dinosaur first. The animals saw that the mountain had targeted dinosaurs and they were very sad. Many animals wanted to quit and turn back, but Murky kept on shouting, “Keep going! We have to do this together!” He was determined to destroy Gobi Mountain. All the animals knew that by the time they reach the top, they would have risked the lives of many animals, maybe even theirs. Still, they continued climbing while the mountain swallowed more dinosaurs. Soon the animals reached the top and they started stamping on the mountain with great force. Slowly, parts of the Gobi Mountain started collapsing. The Earth shook and the whole world started shaking. The animals continued stamping on the mountain with all their might, and very soon, Gobi Mountain collapsed and became an extended land. His nose and fingers became the new Altai Mountains. The force caused cracks all over the extended land. The animals stopped stamping. Gobi Mountain lost its power and it was no longer a mountain but a lifeless land. Everyone started cheering for Murky. There was a sense of freedom, no more fear of sacrificing anyone else for their own safety. The land of Gobi never became fertile and its extremely severe climatic conditions made it unbearable for many animals to live there. Soon, animals started to migrate in search of other fertile land. Only a few animals like the black tailed gazelles, snow leopards and jerboas decided to stay. Years went by and the harsh climate turned the land into a desert. People now call the land the Gobi Desert. Once Upon A Time Shanghai Singapore International School, Tang Ziying, Fiction: Group 2

have a pair of leathery hands and a wrinkled face. Each wrinkle symbolizes an experience I have been through in the olden days. My grandchildren gathered around my 80 year old body. “Grandma! Grandma! Tell us a story!” my grandchildren’s voices as fresh and lively as mine, the young me. That wrinkled face as wrinkled as ever. But I was peaceful, I was Ihappy. I drank a cup of water, ready to tell my story, my life experience. Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She was me. I was the third child of the five my Uhmma gave birth to. However, I took on the role of the eldest when my two older twin brothers disappeared on their way to school. They never came back after leaving for school one morning. We searched the rocky and harsh land from our home to school but we were unable to trace their steps. Uhppa and Uhmma didn’t let us go far from our house from that day on. One day, I was washing the clothes with my two younger sisters, Amisi and Azeneth, when Azeneth suddenly fainted. I carried Azeneth back home while Amisi went to find Uhmma and Uhppa. Around a week later, the doctor told us Azeneth had a type of deadly blood cancer. At that time, technology was poor and medication was pricey. Despite the price of the medicine, the ‘best medicine’ doctors said were not really helpful. We spent most of our money on Azeneth’s medication. Our savings were quickly depleted. No matter how many times Uhmma tried to explain to Uhppa that the medication was too expensive but useless, Uhppa insisted on purchasing the ‘best’ one. In two months, our family had to starve to save money for medication. At first, Uhppa had a lot of confidence. He told us, “We will definitely cure Azeneth!” However, his confidence was soon replaced by fear and stress after weeks passed and Azeneth’s health did not improve. Uhppa turned to gambling in the hope of winning a fortune to find the best medication for Azeneth. Uhppa lost interest in farming as the work was hard and harvest was little. Soon, Uhppa started borrowing money to feed his addiction. Uhppa was gambling that day when Azeneth died. Debtors came after us in the farm. Uhppa dealt with them while we ran for our lives. I still remember that day when we were on the run. “Aloli…Go on your own to find some food and water.” Uhmma whispered. After a long time, I finally found an oasis and a berry bush. Looking around me, I suddenly remembered what Uhmma had taught me when I was little. Running towards the bush, I plucked some leaves and started making a leave bottle. Returning to Uhmma and Amisi, I gasped. The debtors crowded around them. “No!” I whispered, with tears my eyes. Shrinking behind a gigantic cactus, I covered my mouth and held on to my fears. I peeped. Uhmma’s eyes bulged as she saw me. Smiling with tears in her eyes, she muttered, “Aloli, my child! RUN!” I shook my head. “QUIET OLD LADY! IMMA TELLIN YA, YA BETTA KEEP QUIET!” a debtor croaked, pointing the knife at Uhmma. “NO!” Amisi and I screamed, pouncing on the debtor. Amisi was snatching the knife from the debtor when she collapsed on the floor, blood flowing from her chest, dyeing the sand red. “AMISI! MY DAUGHTER! LET ME JOIN YOU!” With that, Uhmma dived straight into the dagger used on Amisi. Her last words were, “rr-ru-run my child…” The debtors were so stunned that they didn’t move. I remembered Uhmma’s words and ran for my life. I became a camel trainer in the Gobi hiding from the debtors. It wasn’t easy though untill the day when your grandpa appeared. “Master! I promise, I will train the camels properly!” My boss ignored me, whipping me with a rope. I crawled away frantically, tears blinding my eyes. I bumped into something hard. I looked up. A handsome man staring at me, “Miss, are you alright?” My heart was beating so fast. I shook my head. “Save me please! I’ll do your chores! I’m Aloli” “Cool down! I’m Bomani! Get on my horse!” Without hesitation, I got on the horse and we ran as far away as we could till we had no choice but to stop for the night. “Happy 24th birthday, Aloli!” I whispered staring at the winking stars. Your grandpa and I made our way across the Gobi to China. Shortlisted

The Lost Legend Shanghai Singapore International School, Aradhana Upadhyay, 12

ome my children, gather around the warm fire. Tonight, I shall tell you my story,” I “ beckoned to them. Soon we were comfortably settled in my large Gher1. I closed my eyes, gathering my thoughts and decided where to start. C“I, Bataar, was born in 1214 to the youngest son of the great Genghis Khan. I was destined to rule, but unfortunately, that is not the case. It is amazing how a roll of the dice can change ones’ future. My story starts in the year 1259. Children, as you should know, this is the year my beloved brother and our esteemed ruler, Mongke Khan, was killed in battle.” I swallowed back the lump of sorrow that began to rise at the thought of my brother, Mongke Aqa2. When we heard the news, Kublai and I were busy laying plans to besiege Sichuan. I, as the eldest then, knew that the reigns of the Mongolian Empire were in my hands. As much planning had gone into this move, I felt it proper to continue the plan of defeating the Song Dynasty, as envisioned by Mongke Aqa. You can imagine my surprise when my loyal general, Sükh, told me about Ariq Böke’s plans of naming himself Khan. Kublai and I saw the need to quickly address this matter. One week before the Kuiltai3, Kublai expressed his desire of becoming Khan and wished to fight me for the throne. When our mother came to know about our plans, she cried that she couldn’t bear to lose another son and made us promise to settle the matter our traditional way, by playing the game of dice. On the day that the game was played, I woke up early, changed into the new clothes that my wife put out for me and prayed to my ancestors for good luck. The game is based on ones’ luck, if you win the game; it means that the ancestors have chosen you. I felt very sure that I would win, but luck was not on my side. When I knew I had lost, I pulled my sword and set it in front of Kublai, and knelt down. I went back to my room to tell my wife that I had lost. I found her gagged and surrounded by guards. Instinctively, I reached for my sword, but then I remembered, I had left it at Kublai’s feet. Seven guards pounced on me. I was bound, gagged and shoved into a tiny room with my wife and son. I had hopes of Sükh coming to save me. That evening a soldier came and said with a cruel laugh, “Here comes Sükh to save you!” and flung the head of Sükh at me. Soon after I was separated from my wife. That night I heard my wife’s high pitched screams and my son’s loud wails, there was nothing I could do, and I knew that they would be joining my ancestors. The next day, Kublai came into my cell clutching a dagger. As he was shutting the door, my mother barged in and flung herself between us. She made Kublai swear on her life that I would not be killed. So, I was banished. I was dressed like a beggar so that no one would recognize me. Before my departure, my mother gave me a hug and whispered that should I be in trouble, to look into the lining of my sleeve. It was a long walk to the desert. Those who were escorting me were on horseback whereas I had to walk. When we reached the border of the Gobi Desert, from where I was to be banished, Kublai’s general told a soldier to spread the word that anyone caught helping me would be executed. The general waited for me to disappear into the landscape of the Gobi before returning to Kublai.” I began to tremble with anger all over as I remembered the deceit that Kublai showed. “I trudged along the sand in the scorching heat, my feet sinking in despite my gutul4. I had been walking for a long time but still didn’t see an oasis in sight. Suddenly, in the distance, I saw a cloud of flies swarming over a spot nearby a Saltwort5 plant. I ran towards the spot remembering a saying my teacher told me, ‘Where there is life, there is water.’ I started to dig, for there was no water on the surface. I began to feel dizzy from exhaustion and lack of water. I passed out. The next thing I knew was that I was lying down in a Gher1. My saviours thought that I was the great Khara Bataar6, from the legend, returning to dig up the hidden treasure and make the land fertile again. As the days passed I began to trust my saviours and revealed my true identity. However, they did not believe me at first, but I remembered my mother’s words and ran to find my old clothes. I slit the lining of both sleeves and found nothing. I thought my mother had fooled me but then my fingers felt something in the corner of the left sleeve. I pulled out a ring containing my parent’s picture. I stayed there regaining my strength and learning how to survive in the desert. In time, some men became willing to lay down their lives for me. I have spent the last two years traveling from tribe to tribe. Today I have an army of 3000 men, whom I have trained in every art of warfare. Tomorrow, we shall march across the desert and fight to reclaim what is rightfully mine...”

Gher1: Mongolian tent Aqa2: Older brother Kuiltai3: Gathering to decide the Emperor Gutul4: Boots that the nomadic tribes in the Gobi wear Saltwort5: A small weedy plant that is found in some regions of the Gobi Desert Khara Bataar6: The great ruler of legendry lost city, Khara-hot The Tunnel Shanghai Singapore International School, Vasantharao Meghana, Fiction: Group 2

he Gobi is a large desert area, where I live with my elder brother and my grandparents. Water is always hard to find in most deserts and I, myself, was out of water too. The water in the oasis near our small hut was getting evaporated by the blazing hot sun, and there wasn’t much left to use. It was time to find new water, somewhere else. It was time Tfor me, a 14-year-old girl, to find a new water source with my elder brother. My parents were not here with us, as they got a job in a nearby city when I was around three years old. They visit us during the holidays, and they teach us everything we need to know. Grandma packed us some food to eat on our way and a small, ceramic jug with the remaining water in it. She also packed some carrots and apples for the two horses we were going to ride on into the great Gobi. It was going to be a long journey. “Bye Noana! Bye Erlos!” my grandpa yelled as my brother and I rode our horses over the rocky and dusty road. After an hour or so of riding in the burning sun, Erlos and I decided to take a break and eat something. Once we were done, we drank some water from the ceramic jug, except there wasn’t much left. “We really should find some water, fast!” I told my brother, who simply shrugged and mounted his horse. I did the same and soon we were off galloping again, the hot breeze ruffling my long black hair. As we rode on, I couldn’t help but notice a thin trail of sparkles on our right. Erlos noticed it too, as well as the horses. We commanded the horses to go to the right, all our eyes following the line of bright sparkles. We followed the trail until it stopped at the mouth of a black tunnel. My black eyes grew big, and so did Erlos’s. There was something weird about this black tunnel, I tell you. I looked at my brother who, without a moment’s hesitation, went into the mysterious tunnel with his horse. I just stared at him as he got sucked through a hole in front of him. Would there be something dangerous inside? I wondered. I lingered for a while for his return but he didn’t. I followed him. As soon as my horse stepped into the tunnel, we were both sucked in too. It felt strange; it was oddly cold as my horse and I swirled round and around in a golden pink sky. Just when I had the feeling I was going to be sick, I stopped spinning and landed softly on a green ground. “Oooohhh,” I moaned, trying to relieve myself from the dizziness. After I recovered, I stood up and glanced around. My mouth hung open. This place, whatever it was, was just wonderful. A beautiful, crystal- clear waterfall was flowing on my left. Forest’s trees were swaying in response to the gentle breeze. The sky above me was a pleasant color of blue. And right in front of me, was my dear brother. I shrieked and ran towards him. I hugged him tight, making him drop the things he had been collecting from inside a small pond. “Noana!” he yelled happily. “Look what I found! Gold!” I grinned at the sight of the glitter in Erlos’s hands. “We could give it to grandma, grandpa, mum and dad!” I squealed excitedly. Erlos shoved the gold into his satchel. “Let’s go to the waterfall! We can get some water!” Erlos exclaimed. So, we made our way to the waterfall and found golden urns at the base of the waterfall. Erlos and I collected a lot of water in the urns. Then we heard some hooves pounding behind us. They were our horses! We rode further into the tunnel, where we found a plot of vegetables. We collected them too. “Is this still the Gobi or a new paradise?” “We should go now, right?” Erlos asked me. “We shouldn’t be too greedy, so we should only take what we need.” I nodded and we were off on the horses, our urns and bags bulging with our great find. We made our way back the same way we stumbled in, sweating rapidly under the afternoon sun. “Grandma?” I called when I reached our hut. “Yes, yes, come in darlings!” she sing-songed as she opened the door for us. “You won’t believe what we found! Gold, vegetables, vessels and most importantly, water!” Erlos and I shrieked together, tipping the treasure onto the table. “Did you find the hidden tunnel?” My grandpa gasped. I stared at him, my eyes enlarged. How did he know about the tunnel? “My ancestors, who lived hundreds of years before, told us about the tunnel and only people who were kind and not greedy would be able to enter it. None of us have seen it.” My grandpa concluded. Erlos and I continued to stare at him. “I can’t believe it’s true!” he replied disbelievingly. “Do you think we can go there for water and food every time from now onwards?” Erlos asked my grandpa. “Well, I guess so. In the tales that I’ve heard of in the Gobi, the treasures are only for those who can manage them.” he responded with a twinkle in his eyes. A Gobi Bear’s Tale Shenzhen Yingcai Xingdi Education Training Center, Anna Geng, Fiction: Group 2

y name is Terry. I had a big family, a mother, a father, an aunt, an uncle and Grandparents too. I had a friend too. His name was Brian. We always played together and would pounce on each other. We lived in a beautiful Gobi steppe, there were vast grasslands, many cattle, sheep and rivers. My home was located in a large forest Mwhere there were many animals and birds. We had a happy life. But 3 years ago, everything changed. Many people came here, they cut down trees and killed the other animals. My parents and friends were captured and killed. The area of trees and grasslands wore away. Temperatures rose, the rain fell less and the rivers dried up. There was little food and little water. My Grandparents and uncle eventually died and my aunt became sick. No one help could me, I was so sad. Every day, I hoped for change. And one day, it happened. “Terry! I have some food! Let’s eat!” called Brian. “Okay.” I replied, but I was still very sad and Brian could tell. “Don’t be sad Terry, I can help you.” Brian said. The next day, Brian helped me find food but there was no food. We couldn’t find any anywhere, but that wasn’t our biggest problem. Suddenly, a hunter came he had the gun! “Run! Let’s run!” I shout at Brian. We both ran fast, the gun shot and Brian was hurt. He couldn’t run anymore. The hunter caught him. “Terry!” Brian shouted, “Go! Run!” The hunter didn’t chase me, he just took Brian back to his tent. That night, I dreamt about Brian shouting to me, “Terry! Terry! Help me”! The next day, I went to the tent and listened. “Ha, ha! Good job, Daniel!” a man said. “Hey, Marcus!” We can sell the bear in the city!” “Yes, and we can make enough money to have food, drink, a big house and a pretty wife!” “Yes, we can have a big garden for our children!” I listened to them but I didn’t want to listen to them anymore. I don’t want my friend sold on a market and to end up as a hamburger or cut into pieces of meat and covered in sauce! I went back to home. I stood on a big rock and looked out. I saw some men cutting down trees and setting traps to catch more bears. A big eagle heard me cry. He flew and sat down at my side. “What wrong Terry? Where is your friend?” “Who are you?” I asked, “How do know my name? What yours?” “I’m Nathan, the smartest eagle. Brian is my brother’s friend.” “Some men want to sell Brian in the city!” “Yes, they are bad men. They shot my brother dead yesterday!” “I think they have hurt lots of animals. That’s why we need to save Brian!” “Well, if you need help just roar and I can take my family to help you!” “Thank you, but I don’t need any help!” I said. The next day went and roared at the tent. Daniel came out and looked at me. “It’s another bear! Quick! Get the gun.” I quickly ran away. That night, I dreamt about my mum and dad, they told me not to be disappointed and to keep on trying. The next day, I found Nathan and I said sorry to him because I really needed his help. “Okay, if you do that again and I will help you.” he said. Later, I went back to the tent to roar again. “That’s the bear again!” the men called, “Let’s get him!” as the all ran out of the tent to catch me. I roared again. “Marcus! Shoot! This bear is stronger than the other bear!” The gun shot, but a stone hit the gun so it shot the floor. It was Nathan and his family! “Just run, we know how to kill them! Woo! Woo! They are bad! We will kill all of the humans!” They flew to attack Daniel and Marcus. The men cried for help and fled. I cried out “No! Humans are our friends! Just some of them are bad! Just like Daniel and Marcus!” Nathan helped me find a key to let Brian out of his cage. Then he spoke to me. “We must go to China to find the leaders of China and speak to them.” Then Brian came out of the cage shouting, “That is a great idea! We can help the Gobi desert become a grass land!” The next day was a good day; it was not hot and not cold. Nathan helped us to find some food and we left. In the middle of the day, we met some people who were riding camels they looked at us and laughed, “My god, what have we found? Two Gobi bears and an eagle! Let’s take a photo!” Nathan bellowed out, “Don’t look at the camera! It will heart your eyes!” so we ran away. The next day, it was rained. Brian was ill. He had a cold and he had a high temperature. “We must quickly go to China and see a doctor!” I said. We traveled for about two days. When we arrived in China, and I said to a government worker, “I want to see your leader!” The man took us see his leader. “What’s wrong Peter?” the leader asked. “Two bears and an eagle want to see you.” “Okay! I can see them!” The leader met us. “Let’s talk about the Gobi desert.” said Nathan. “The Gobi desert has no food to eat and the environment is getting worse, many animals are dying.” “Yes, and some people cut the trees and catch bears! I have seen it! And the desert is growing!” I continued. “The desert is expanding and will come into your country!” “Thank you for your suggestions, but please don’t worry about that,” the leader said, “We have released new laws, forbidding people from cutting down trees and killing animals, people who plant trees will be rewarded. The trouble is being controlled and things are getting better”. That night, I had a good dream. In my dream the Gobi desert became a great grassland. There were many trees and little rivers, many Gobi bears, sheep and birds living in there. Our lives were as happy as they were in the past. The Revenge of Nature Shenzhen Yingcai Xingdi Education Training Center, Sissi Li, Fiction: Group 2

When I was little I used to play a game called ‘Gobi – Desert’. It is where one Gobi bear closes its eyes and shouts, “Gobi!” and all the other bears shout, “Desert!” and then the Gobi bear with its eyes closed has to follow the others voices and catch them. We all thought it was the nicest game in the world but I haven’t played it for a long time. At night it is freezing cold, however in the afternoon it is burning hot. In the past in the Gobi desert there were many trees and my family and I would find it much easier to find shade. Now there is mostly dust and not much else. It’s hard out here on my own. Now my favourite place to be is asleep. When I sleep, I can dream. One time in a dream I saw that the trees that were cut down were growing again. I could see my brother trying to climb one of them. I was laughing for joy. I called out to him, but he couldn’t hear me. I called again and again. When I woke up I was still alone. Once I met a nomad girl called Lara. She saw that I was sad so she tried to comfort me. She gave me a little food and water and let me stay with her underneath her shade. She also knew that because of changes to the environment there was only a little food many animals were starving. That was why there were so few bears now. Lara understood, life was harder for her too. Luckily, she had a plan. Lara tried to plant trees every day. She was growing as many she could. I would sit and watch her as she would plant seed after seed. She said that one day they would grow and that one day they would bring life back to the desert. It gave me a strange feeling inside. I liked it. But it was still cold. Although I was happier with Lara my dreams continued to deteriorate like the desert around me. I would dream of sandstorms all round the Gobi desert, destroyed it. Destroying the nomads, destroying the animals, destroying the trees Lara planted. Everyone was buried in the sand including me and Lara. We couldn’t breathe. We cried out. I was scared. I woke up. I know that nature’s revenge will come to us all one day. I feel terrified, frozen like ice and I can’t breathe. I look down and I hit the sand with my paws. I see a sandstorm swirling beneath me, I see the animals and nomads being buried under the sand, but not us. No, not us because we planted the trees. But there will be nothing left. I can feel it. Maybe I can find another home. Lara and I together. We are the same. She lost her family a long time ago and so did I. When we look at the desert we see the same thing. We know what we need to do. And we will try to do it. A Deadly Desert Shenzhen Yingcai Xingdi Education Training Center, William Li, Fiction: Group 2

n a very poor village in Mongolia, there was a boy called Pedro and his father Mr. Ringrose. Pedro was very handsome and caring but Mr. Ringrose was mean, selfish and did not like to listen to others. Mr. Ringrose had a little factory selling wood. Pedro didn’t like cutting wood. His Icompany was named “Woodcutter”. Mr. Ringrose decided to make a new factory in the Gobi desert to cut down more trees and to make more money. When they arrived in the dessert, Mr. Ringrose started to organize the workers. They put out tents and started putting things in order. After a long time night fell and all the people went to the tent and got into bed. That night it was freezing cold. The next morning the hot sun beamed into the camp and it was very hot. Pedro got dressed quickly and ate his breakfast. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Pedro gazed outside. Yesterday he could look at all the trees but today lots of trees had been cut down. He tried to warn his father not to cut many more trees. Every day he tried to warn him but his father never listened. Everyday Pedro visited the animals and sometimes gave them food. Soon Pedro and the animals became friends. Every day he saw awful things happening; trees crashing down, animals running away and dust pouring into the sky .The environment was getting worse and worse. One day Pedro made a decision. This time he stomped to his father’s camp angrily. “Father!”cried Pedro, “You must stop cutting trees! This is the last time I am going to warn you!” His father was getting angry. “Son!” he shouted, “I talked to you before, we are poor we almost can’t afford anything, everyone thinks we are rich but we have no money!” “You can get a new job” suggested Pedro still flushing with anger. “The animals will die! And now there is no food and there are no trees to protect you from the sandstorms! ” “I don’t care!” screamed Pedro’s father. Pedro had only one choice. “Father”, he said calmly, “If you still cut down trees I will go to live with my animal friends.” His father still wanted to make money and thought that Pedro would not leave so he decided to still cut trees. Pedro packed his belongings and left. He found his animal friends and lived with them. Living with animals is hard. Pedro could only eat fruit or vegetables. Sometimes he would meet Nomads who would give him food. One day Pedro saw a gargantuan sandstorm, Pedro hurried to his father’s factory. Pedro’s animal friends followed him. When they arrived, it was too late. The factory had already been buried. Pedro cried and cried. His tears wet his clothes but that was no use, his father was buried alive. Pedro wanted to die. He was heartbroken. That night he dreamt that everything could have a new start. He dreamt that in the Gobi desert there were trees all around to stop the sandstorms. He dreamt there was food and water everywhere and that his father treated him nicely. It was only a dream. Survival Instinct Singapore International School, Kim Seung Young Lucia, Fiction: Group 2

ust clouds, spraying tiny specks of soft sand the color of crispy baked butter cookies, formed as each of our steps thudded against the sand, taking us further into the Gobi desert. Stifling, dry air filled my lungs. I coughed and retched but persevered and sprinted forward, ignoring the shouts and screams of my muscles begging for me Dto stop. Our art of running is unorthodox. Our long strides take us forward in the air, our legs outstretched as we take each step. Our home, the desert, isn’t much. Golden sand stretches in all directions as far as the eye can see. There used to be patches of green which gave us shade and water. However, since our enemies’ arrival, shade is rare, but under it the temperature could plummet a sharp 5 degrees Celsius. I strode further onwards, nearing the tight cluster of the lead runners. Running was always part of our life, but now it was crucial for survival. Rumors passed around, from brother to sister, of our kind being killed by our enemies. A single stagger would result in certain death. No one wants to fall into the clutches of our enemies. Surging onwards, tiny beads of sweat trickled down my neck. The sky was a beautiful, pale bluish color, and not a single cloud was in sight. An orange yellow blob radiating light hung across the tarp of blue. “Argh!” an ear piercing scream hung in the air. It belonged to Gerry, my best buddy. We all froze in our tracks. Whipping around, I came across the sight of Gerry, rolled over and covered in sand, moaning. Crimson blood splattered all over his head like a huge blotch of red paint on the pallet. A sharp jagged rock was pierced through his head. “Gerry… Are you okay?” Even to me I sounded desperate. “Of course not, stupid,” said Gerry. We grinned, and for a moment it felt like everything was okay, that the old Gerry was back. But then he groaned and laid his head down, and I knew death was coming for him. “Go on without me,” He said. “But we can’t leave you here to our enemy!” I exploded, as if I were a small child, unable to take death. “Go on … I’ll make it if I can…” Gerry said with difficulty . “I’ll stay with you! You have to get better, Gerry! You have to!” As if the words could force this to happen, I angrily insisted this. Angry with the world, angry with that stupid rock - I was fuming with rage. “We should leave Gerry here; it’s the kindest thing to do,” reasoned Gavin, another friend. Gerry nodded slowly, in agreement. “All right,” I glanced at the weakening body of Gerry and reluctantly consented. The color was draining from his face. Gavin, being the fastest runner, herded the rest of us to take formation. A youngling, excited but frightened, took Gerry’s place. Sprinting across the desert, we continued to race along the barren land, across miles and miles of sand. In the distance, a gunshot sounded. Most of us ignored it, we kept running for dear life, but I knew at that very moment Gerry had died at the hands of our enemy. I forced down my tears. All of a sudden, Gavin stopped dead in his tracks. I locked eyes with a ferocious snow leopard, its coat white as snow, deadly as a viper. Snow leopards could outrun us all easily. But the snow leopard could only have appetite for one of us - just one. We exchanged glances; one of us had to be sacrificed to save the rest. Gavin took one decisive step forward, towards the snow leopard. No! I wanted to shout. I already lost one friend. Not another, please not Gavin, I thought. But I was being selfish, extremely selfish. We ran the opposite way just as Gavin leapt at the snow leopard, and with a short scream, his body hung limply in the air for a fraction of a second, and not a single sound escaped his mouth. His throat was almost ripped off his body, with only a tiny string of skin and flesh attached it to the body. I approached my friend with caution, glanced at the body, while the snow leopard nodded, letting me have one final look at my friend. A teardrop fell onto Gavin’s wound, lying there like a glistening pearl. As I retreated, I thought Gavin had it lucky. He’d died at the hands of a snow leopard, not our enemies. Being eaten by snow leopards was a dignified death. It’s part of nature. But our enemies... It was plain unfair. I trudged along the golden sand, all my thoughts, all my feelings, all my desire to live-gone. I was an empty shell. What is the purpose to live? Is it better to lead an unhappy life than to be dead? What is the point of living without friends and joy? Even if I did have children, what would their lives be like? Running all day, all night? It’d be torture. Behind me, I heard the distinct war cries of our enemies. “There they are! Shoot the gazelles down!” they screamed. Rapid cascades of bullets pierced through my fur coat, into my flesh. Warm, thick red blood oozed out of gash in my neck. Crimson and fresh, it dribbled down my neck and sunk into the sand as the droplets of blood fell against the desert ground. A huge, cold grin hung crookedly on the face of a young man, one of our enemies, and he approached me, dipping two fingers into the wound, he smeared my blood onto his face. My head was spinning. The image of him was a blur. The voice of the young man, our enemy, a human, announced, “First blood!” Shortlisted

The Gobi Desert Singapore International School, Kok Zi Suen, 10

he Gobi Desert, might appear to most, a barren stretch of nothingness. But as they say, “Don’t judge the book by its cover”. The exterior of the desert, pale and inconspicuous as it is, is merely a façade masking the true colours of the desert. For one, the unforgettable events of that fateful day have peeled off some of its aged Tfaçade, at least for me.

16th July 2002.

Ada, James and I had just left Khanbogd, and we were heading towards the Flaming Cliffs, situated in the Omnogov Province of Mongolia - the birthplace of the dinosaur fossil rumours. “James! We’re almost there! Can you see beyond the sand mist?” “Yes! Let’s go to the land of fossils! ” “But why is the mist getting more dense? What on Earth is happening?” “Oh my, my eyes are hurting! Why are the sand particles all flying in our direction? And why can’t I see anything?” “Oh dear, this must be one of those violent sandstorms that occasionally visits the Gobi Desert! I read about it on the plane to Mongolia!” “Stop talking! The sand is already getting into my mouth. Get onto the camel, crouch forwards, and gallop towards the cliffs! I remember being told that there are caves hidden on the face of the cliffs! We’ll meet at the foot later, okay?” Our unanimous voices rung out in the air, but other than the almost unrecognizable word “Yes!”, the rest of our voices were drowned out by the roar of the wind as it enveloped us in a blanket of sand. Eventually, I, alone with my camel, stumbled into one of the caves at the edge of the cliff, weary and irritated. Once I tied my camel to a protrusion on the cliff and I stepped into the cave, I was thrown into utter darkness. As I ventured further into the depths of the pitch black cavern, I stumbled over an object; my hand came into contact with the fall-inducing obstacle. As it fit itself into the palm of my hand, my eyes blinked in disbelief as the object in my hand started to emit an incandescent glow. Within seconds, I was encapsulated in a bubble of light that was all encompassing, before seconds later, the light faded to a pulsating bright dot. As I took a closer look at the object in my hand, I realized, shocked, that it was the skull of an infant dinosaur…

16th July B.C. 4000.

As I stepped outside the cave, a completely bizarre sight materialized before me. A mother creature was nursing its egg in a nest hidden in the foliage. Immediately, I knew - this was an adult, vegetarian Apatosaurus. A quick look around my surroundings told me that I had, somehow time travelled back a few thousand years into the prehistoric age, where dinosaurs existed. The rare infant skull of the dinosaur that I had found was probably a secret link to the prehistoric past. Looking at the no longer flashing skull in my hand, I knew that it was not yet time for me to return to the 21st century. As they say, there was a purpose to reach. The motherly instincts of a dinosaur, gentle and caring, bewildered me. Even love can be found in most legendary of creatures. Just then, a ferocious roar shook the ceiling of the cavern and induced a shiver in the mother Apatosaurus. It planted itself more firmly onto the eggs in the foliage-made nest, even though it was reduced to a shivering bunch of scales. The ground seemed to rumble and it was as if thunder was fast approaching. When I looked up again, the entire sky was blocked — by a looming creature. My mind told me, by the head structure and the canine appearance, this was the greatest of the greatest dinosaurs — the Spinosaurus. The sharp claws of the Spinosaurus seemed to yearn for the mother dinosaur’s eggs in the nest. As the mother dinosaur looked on with undeniable fear and sad resignation, her small figure no comparison to the Spinosaurus, an overwhelming sense of pity consumed me. For another species. On impulse, I decided to risk my own wellbeing for the sake of a dinosaur. How stupid was I? Very. Stomping like a madman onto the dense undergrowth, I brandished my—torchlight— and shone it into the Spinosaurus’s eyes, only to see it change its target towards me, unperturbed by the light, yet fascinated by foreign me. Just as it bared its canines and I could feel its hot, bloody, meat-laden breath contaminating my clothes, my hand wielded my last weapon - the laser light - and directed it into the Spinosaurus’s eyes. Prepared to lose this last battle, I winced as it inched closer and closer, and… suddenly it was gone as fast as it had arrived. When I opened my eyes again, it was fleeing in a disoriented manner. Meanwhile, the eggs were safe and sound beneath the petrified herbivorous Apatosaurus. As the mother Apatosaurus looked into my eyes thankfully, I smiled with a quiet, blissful contentment. I felt the infant dinosaur skull pulsing in my pocket once again. As I grasped it tight, I felt myself hurled into that same dizziness and everything became light again.

16th July 2002.

As I stepped out of the cave, my eyes settled on Ada and James, whom I waved at. Yet as I walked towards them, a little smile crawled up onto my face. As I clasped the fossilized egg in my pocket and the fragment of the infant skull that had tucked itself into my jeans pocket, I knew, that it was my secret to keep. My little souvenir, to remind me, that dinosaurs were like any other creature—caring, loving—had the exact same emotions as humanity. I had understood that creature like no other human would ever do, because I was blessed with the fortune to do so. That, was the essence of adventure: Revelation. Passage Through The Gobi Singapore International School, Ray Kwek, Fiction: Group 2

he sun beat down on my barely alive body, the sand scalding hot under my blistered feet. My throat parched, my canteen empty. I am following the ancient route to riches, the answer to all my prayers. I have with me a dozen camels, each carrying a huge load of silk. But with such great rewards, comes even greater danger. The Gobi desert is a Tterrible place. Many have tried to cross it. Only a handful survived. Even worse, it is summer. The sun will have no mercy on me, except for these few hours. Time to rest. The sun is setting. In the day, temperatures are scorching.But at night, it is the total opposite. The last rays of golden light disappears and the temperature start plummeting. Soon, it will be freezing. I get into my sleeping bag and toss and turn, all the while trying to keep warm. Then the ground shook.A cold wind penetrated my many layers of clothing and sends shivers down my spine. Suddenly, like in a horror movie, shouts rang out, lights flash and the smell of death hung in the air. Then, as sudden as it came, it all vanished, the sky once again a blanket of darkness. I don’t remember falling asleep, but I remember having trouble. Another day in the desert. After hours of dragging my sore body over miles and miles of anhydrous sand, i spotted some lush green cactus- a sight for sore eyes in the unchanging barren landscape of the desert. But for me, it only means one thing. Water! “Gulp...gulp…” I gulp the tasty juice greedily, every drop feels like a million dollars. I fill my canteen. My camels waiting patiently not far away. “ROAR!” the earth-shattering cry echoed around the the area. Then, right in front of me, the ground exploded. Sand flew everywhere as out of the explosion came a Giant Worm. The Death Worm. Legend has it that it was over a metre wide, and extremely long. One end is a Gaping mouth filled to the brim with razor-sharp fangs while the other is a long whip-like tail coated with deadly liquid, said to be for inducing excruciating pain. Almost no one has survived an encounter with it, but I intend to be one of them. I take out my machete and held it up. I brought it along for emergencies. This seems like one. It charged at me, its blood red body undulating in the sun. “Whoosh!” it whisked past me like lightning, barely missing me. For such a big lump of meat, it was fast. I slashed to the side, the blade sinking into the soft underbelly of the beast. Thick yellow pus with a tinge of white came oozing out of the wound, and though small, the beast bellowed in pain. First blood to me. The beast circled round me, its tail dripping wet, the rest of its body as dry as the desert itself. I am drenched in perspiration, and they drip onto the sand like rain. Suddenly, the beast lunged right at me, and i jump to the left again. Drops of water travel from my canteen to the beast. But instead of going straight past me, it swerved to the right at the very last second and flicked its tail, almost missing me. Almost. The sheer force of the blow sends me soaring. So this is what it’s like to fly. My thoughts were interrupted and I crashed heavily, luckily on soft sand. Even so, it caused a small crater on the ground. Remember that the liquid was said to cause pain? I can prove it. My body hurts like crazy. My leg is worse. I examine it carefully. The monster had slashed my thigh, drawing blood out like a waterfall. The blood was a sickly yellow. My whole leg was turning yellow right before my eyes. I staggered. It hurt too much to stand upright. The beast was also in pain. It bellowed out, rolling wildly, flinging sand everywhere. The urge to know what happened was killing me. Why was it in agony? I walk over to it, every step like walking on spikes. I see it. Two blue dots are growing bigger and bigger, like ink spots on blotting paper on the rear end of that ugly thing. Why? Then, as if I was smothered by a tsunami, a wave of realization hit me.Water! I could feel hope surging through me.So this is the key to beating this seemingly impossible foe. I toss my machete aside. Here I am standing, defenceless with nothing in hand apart from a canteen that was only half full and a heart full of hope. Was I crazy? Maybe. “Come get me! “ I holler at the top of my lungs, taunting it. It works. It turns to face me, and started slowly advancing towards me, now wary. Then, just like before, it charged straight at me. I jumped up, leaping into the air and tilt my already open canteen. All the precious water gushes out, landing onto its fat head. “Hiss…” Where the water struck, the red flesh is now sizzling, quickly changing colour, from blood-red to dark blue. It groaned, and with a another ear-splitting cry, burrowed into the sand. The desert is now serene and I continue the tedious trek and with every step I take I wince. The pain is unbearable, but i urge myself to continue. Not long later, I spot civilization. The many radiantly coloured roofs was a pleasant change from the blinding dullness of the sand, each of the houses gleaming proudly in the sun. As I stride over, tugging my camels along, tears of joy stream down my face. After being alone in the desert with only a dozen camels and a giant worm for company, I felt isolated from the rest of humanity. But as I enter the town, I realize I have to face an even greater challenge: Language. Gobi Specto Lucem Singapore International School, Lee Yu Qiao, Fiction: Group 2

ave you ever heard of Gobi Specto Lucem? Well, of course not. After her disappearance, those who remembered her told stories of her battle. Only a few know about her today. So when I finish this story, I want you to pass it on, just as I once promised. There once was a girl called Gobi Lucem, who was known as the ‘Sweet Girl’ of the Hvillage. At first, people had many suspicions for she arrived there no older than the age of four. Nobody knew how she remembered her name. Being born with wavy brown hair and big hazel eyes, everyone soon grew a soft spot for her. She lived in a village which was hidden in a desert. Not many knew of it, so when her life took a turn for the worse, almost nobody found out. There was a feud between the desert village that Gobi lived in and the moon village no more than 50 miles away. Both of them fought hard for the limited supply of water, so the minor dispute rose to an all out war. After fighting for a little over a week, they called a truce. This all happened before Gobi was born. Now the two villages would be considered as rivals, but nothing had happened between them, at least, not yet. Gobi had a secret that no one knew. But that would be changed as soon as her seventh birthday came around. When she was walking along the edge of the only forest found for miles around, her ears picked up a faint shouting sound. That was followed by the snapping of twigs and bushes being trampled. This meant only one thing. Their rival village was back to settle their score. She raced back to the clearing that separated the forest from civilization. Shouting out a warning, Gobi followed some others who disappeared into their houses and came back out with swords and shields in their hands. She herself hid in a wardrobe covered by clothes. Even if she was powerful, she knew better than to try and join in the fight. People were running around now, preparing medicines and grabbing bandages for the wounded to come. When the first sight of the attackers were seen, both villages called out a battle cry and rushed forward. Sounds of metal clashing and cries of pain were all that was heard for no less than two days. By then more than 49 people were injured and 37 dead. The were losing, but a dozen or two of people were still standing. The houses were already burned to ashes while the floor was covered in blood and not one spot was clean. Only a few pieces of furniture remained. During the war, Gobi resorted to sleeping hidden in the rubble and debris. A small peephole was enough to keep her updated. Medical supplies were already very low. The attackers were winning, and Gobi knew she had to do something fast. Her mind was having a mental battle. Would her love for her village overcome the risk of being shunned for her abilities? In the end, her loyalty won the battle and she leapt out of her hiding spot. Everyone stopped and stared at her strangely. Was she foolish or just plain crazy? What they saw was nothing they expected. Her hands were cupped together, and she chanted exactly four lines in four different languages. Everything happened in slow motion. Everybody was affected except for Gobi. She moved around like everything was fine. What was going on? The shock that showed on their faces did not stop Gobi from performing her next move. She held her hands out in front of her and moved them around, like she was moving something. If it was possible, her victims’ mouths would have dropped to the floor. She was moving them around like they were puppets and she was a puppeteer! Their bodies moved against their will, and they raised their swords and knives to their necks and plunged it in. Gobi could not afford to feel pity now. She was aware that her hands were faintly glowing red. When she dropped her hands down and sighed, the villagers were able to move again. To say they were surprised was an understatement. “Wha…what...how?” seemed to be all they were saying. Gobi tiredly shook her head. “My mother was a witch who started teaching me at the age of two.” she whispered. Shouts of disbelief were heard throughout the crowds, but they soon fell silent as she continued her tale. “Two years later, a cobra bit my mother when she was hunting and her dying words were, ‘Run to the East and don’t stop.’ I ran as fast as I could until I reached here.” Many mothers had glassy eyes now, but suddenly a man shouted, “She’s a threat! We need to get rid of her!” Some thought that she should be cast out of civilization and left to die in the baking desert, while the rest insisted she be honoured for stopping one of the most brutal wars in three decades. In the end, they took a voting and the results were shockingly close. The difference between the two results was less than a quarter dozen. A burly man stepped up onto the huge piles of rubble and debris. He took a deep breath and shouted, “Majority wins! Gobi will…” She anxiously held her breath and waited. “Majority wins! Gobi will remain in the village! In honor of our victory, this place will be named The Gobi Desert!” Gobi let out a sigh of relief. And from there, word had spread about Gobi’s victory and no one dared to threaten The Gobi Desert again. Legend says that Gobi’s descendants live scattered around the world, disguised as normal everyday people. So when you tell this story, be sure to mention her full name. Those descendents who carry magic in their blood will always remember their powerful ancestor. Rescued! Singapore International School, Saw Yu Xuan, Fiction: Group 2

n front of me was a blur. I was lying down, facing the burning sun. I sat up, realizing that I was drenched in a puddle of sweat, my own sweat, sitting on a sandy floor. I looked around, all I could see was sand and some cactus, but no end to this vast and empty place. Why am I here? I asked myself, but I had no energy to think. I was exhausted. I sat there for a long Itime, resting, and then stood up after feeling more energized. I could feel the blistering heat of the desert. Scorching rays from the blazing sun beat down mercilessly from the sky. I saw an old sack nearby, and approached it, feeling a sense of hope. Maybe it could help me escape this wasteland. I flipped open the sack. Inside were a rusty knife, a empty jar and a map. I picked up the crumpled map. It was a map of Asia. I sudden thought came to me. If the map was a map of Asia, does that mean I am in Asia? The only desert I could think of in Asia was the Gobi desert. My heart skipped a beat. I knew that it was the worst desert to be in because of the intense heat, freezing temperatures, stinging sandstorms and the worst, the Mongolian death worm. It was a legend, but I did not want to risk my life even though I did not believe the legend. I picked up the sack and took out the empty jar and knife. I walked to the nearest cactus and started to slice it in half. I heard that when slicing the cactus, if the liquid is milky coloured, it means that it is poisonous. When green liquid started to leak out, I caught some of the liquid in the empty glass jar. I took a tiny sip from the jar. The liquid was nauseating, but I had no choice but to drink it. I filled the jar with the same liquid from a few other cactus, then was ready to set off. I shouted, “I am leaving this place, and I will succeed!” In the evening, I sat down, and was ready to withstand the freezing temperatures of the night. I found a lot of small wooden sticks as I walked. I used tiny pebbles and rubbed them together. After an eternity, sparks appeared and I lit the wooden sticks with the sparks. I tried to keep myself warm until the fire died out. I was ravenous, but had no food, so I drank the disgusting liquid in the glass jar. I shivered as the night sky got darker. My eyes wanted to be closed badly. I covered myself with the sack to keep me warm. I cuddled myself into ball and tried to sleep. I was exhausted after the long walk, but the air made me feel like I was frozen. I stayed awake until the sun finally came out, making the cold air burn, turning it into heated scorching air. I woke up finding my shirt stuck to my body because of the perspiration, then prepared myself to continue to escape the disastrous place. I had survived the freezing night of the Gobi desert. I was famished, as I haven’t ate for days. I walked and walked with the sack, collecting tiny branches. Suddenly, a wall of sand was racing towards me in the distance. My eyes popped out of my face. The wind blew stronger and stronger. There was a sandstorm, one of the desert’s worst catastrophes. My heart was beating faster than a runaway locomotive. I kneeled down at the speed of light. I held the sack close to me, then I shut my eyes as tight as I could, taking a deep breath, trying to stay calm. I could feel the sandstorms coming. I felt like the wind was lifting my body up to the air, making me grip my hands on the sack as if it was my savior and I would never let go. “Ouch!” Pebbles and sand flew through the strong wind, hitting me. It lasted for ages, then I felt the wind blowing weaker, until it gradually slowed down. I heaved a sigh of relief. I only got some scratches from the flying pebbles and sand that shot across the desert. I was worn out and had a gruesome headache, so I placed my head on the sack and gradually my eyes were closed. “What was that?” I was woken up by a sound. I sat up, not making a single sound. “A helicopter?” I stood up, looking around, trying to avoid the flaming sun. I spotted a dot in the sky. It was making a humming sound. After observing it more carefully, I confirmed that it was a helicopter. I knew that I had to get help. I drank the last drop of cactus liquid and with a branch, I drew the words ‘SOS’ in the desert sand. I drew it really big to make it obvious, then I stood in the middle of the ‘O’ then waved my arms wildly, using all the energy I have, shouting: “Help! Help me! Help...” I jumped up and down like a wild kangaroo. My life would be gone if I did not get the helicopter’s attention. I was apprehensive, hoping that the helicopter could see me. Disappointingly, the helicopter continued flying, passing where I was standing. I was depressed. My life was over. I sat back down on the sand. Just then, a sudden movement changed the fate of my life. The helicopter turned around, lowering itself near to the ground, causing sand to fly around it. It landed. I was ecstatic, smiling with glee, wanting to jump for joy. Suddenly my body weakened and I blacked out. Gobi Adventures Singapore International School, Ian Tham, Fiction: Group 2

hop! Whop!” The helicopter rotors sliced through the air, causing a whirlwind of “ leaves to fly around it. Dr. James Thompson and his team were inside, anxious to get out into Ulaanbaatar, where they would ride a jeep to the Gobi Desert. He was a conservation biologist who specialised in Snow Leopards, and he was chosen fromW candidates all over the world to work with nine other scientists, to conduct research on the Gobi Desert and its wildlife. Dr. Thompson had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and was extremely excited to learn more about his favourite animal: the Snow Leopard. He carried his leaden bag, which contained supplies that would last him a few months. The team climbed into the cramped jeep and it sped off, belching a cloud of sulphurous smoke in its wake. After twelve long and tiring hours, they reached the scorching desert, filled with undulating sand dunes. The jeep drove them to the base camp, which seemed like the only sign of civilisation in a sea of sand. Busy with their research, time flew by quickly, days became weeks and weeks became months. Gradually, he inched closer to an enormous breakthrough on how Snow Leopards migrated, which could save them from extinction. One morning, he woke up and saw a majestic Snow Leopard wandering around with her cubs from afar. He immediately took his tracking devices and tiptoed after them. It was long and tiring, but he eventually succeeded in tranquilising and tagging them. He was elated as he had never tagged an entire family before, and could not wait to break the news to his teammates. When he returned to base camp, his heart skipped a beat. His teammates’ massacred bodies lay strewn on the ground, motionless. Dr. Thompson walked over to his best friend cautiously, heart pounding with fear. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he touched Rob’s chest with trembling hands. It was still. Then, he found out the devastating truth about what had happened: bloodthirsty bandits had ransacked base camp. Dr. Thompson decided to set out, and hopefully, find signs of civilisation. He gathered everything of use, and shoved them into his knapsack with trembling hands. He walked out into the barren and desolate desert, and for hours, the fiery sun beat down on him relentlessly. Just when he was about to give up, he came up with a terrific idea. He rummaged in his bag for his portable radio and waved it around. Dr. Thompson knew that there would be help where the signal was strongest. When he heard a faint radio signal, it gave him a tinge of hope. He remembered something that his father would always say: “When you are lost in the wild, you don’t need physical, but mental strength to keep you determined to survive” He grit his teeth and kept wandering in the wilderness. Everyday, he would find a few lizards scampering around the desert. He would catch and eat them, no matter what they tasted like. The lizards tasted revolting, and Dr. Thompson would turn pale after eating them. Worst of all, they made his stomach churn nauseously at night, when he was trying to have a decent sleep after a draining day. The only way that he could get a supply of water was to use some stones, put them under a sheet of tarpaulin and lick the meager amount of water collected from the morning dew. Half a world away, his mother had not heard from him for weeks, and was sick with worry. It was her birthday, and Dr. Thompson had promised to call her. She rang the Foreign Affairs Department in Singapore and explained everything, begging for help. The government sprang into action, made frantic calls to Ulaanbaatar and realised that nobody had heard from the team for weeks, which was suspicious. They alerted the Mongolian authorities, which launched a massive search and rescue operation. The Singaporean government also sent their best team picked from the Civil Defence Force to help comb the desert, on air and land. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Fear. Hopelessness. Desperation. Dr. Thompson trudged through the desert.. It had been three agonising weeks. Once again, he took out the radio, waving it around with little hope. At first, it was plain static as usual, but then he heard voices. A jolt of excitement ran through his body and he froze. He carefully retraced his steps, and tuned the radio. True enough, he heard words being spoken. From his little understanding of Mongolian, he recognised some words: “searching”, “Thompson” and “Snow Leopard”! He was overjoyed when he knew that people were looking for him. With every last ounce of energy, he dragged himself towards the source of the signal. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a raging, blinding sandstorm enveloped him. “Oh no!” he cried, “not a sandstorm, you’re kidding!” And then, he heard a familiar noise. “Whop! Whop!” The sandstorm was actually caused by a rescue helicopter! The next thing he knew, paramedics were ziplining down towards him. Dr. Thompson was in the worst possible condition. He was hallucinating, delirious, and a bag of skin and bones as the helicopter choppered away. It was ironic how the “Whop!” sound was the first and last sound that he heard in the Gobi Desert. Once he was back in Singapore, he recovered quickly. He never lost his passion for nature and 17 years later, he landed his dream job: as a National Geographic photographer. The magazine said that they would send him his first assignment through email. Day after day, he checked his inbox to see what it would be. Finally, it arrived, and he opened the email with trepidation. After reading it, he screamed, “Noooo!” and collapsed in terror.

To: Dr. James Thompson From: Chris Johns, Chief Photographer

Dear James, Your first assignment will be taking pictures for our upcoming feature: “Lizards of the Gobi”. Hope you enjoy it! National Geographic THE FORGOTTEN CITY Singapore International School, Brian Wong, Fiction: Group 2

and, sand and more sand was all that Ermak could see in all directions as he heaved himself onto a sand dune, panting heavily. He lay down, gazing at the scorching rays from the blazing sun, and his mind drifted. “Ermak, complete the journey, and make our ancestors proud!” Ermak was next to Shis brother, and his crying mother. He remembered how he had vowed silently, swearing that he would return. “I love you, mother, and you my lost father. I will return with our treasure, I swear, in the name of Aha,” were Ermak’s last words before he left. His father had been long gone. He had embarked on a journey to reclaim the family’s most prized possession, a beautiful dragon pearl. The Chinese had stolen the pearl, and while being pursued by Ermak’s furious ancestors, had hidden it in the Gobi desert, somewhere that was lost in history. Every man of the family would honour the tradition, and would embark on a quest to find the pearl. Never had anyone come back from the quest alive. An oasis is the key, he’d been told. The Chinese must have hidden it near an oasis, where there would have been water. Ermak could understand that, but he had had his doubts. There were only a few oases in the giant wasteland, and if his ancestors had been searching for centuries, why had they not found the pearl yet? So Ermak had decided to try something different from all the others. Instead of heading east like all his other ancestors, where the oases were supposed to be, he had headed west, away from the oases, away from where he was told to go, and in his family’s point of view, away from the pearl. Ermak got up, stretched and planted his boots onto the sand. He went on and on, drifting aimlessly over the never ending sand. He hummed the tune of Altai Kai, an old song his mother had taught him when he was young. He cursed his impossible mission, and wished he were still at home, snuggled up near the fireplace while his mother told him stories of his father. Suddenly, something caught Ermak’s eye. It was a man! For the first time during his time in the desert, he felt a surge of excitement. Could the man possibly take him to the pearl? He crept silently behind him, hoping it would lead him to where Ermak wanted to go. But his excitement was short lived, for at that exact moment the man whirled around. Ermak did not know what to do, so he shouted, “ Who are you? ” But Ermak could not finish his sentence before the man delivered a vigorous blow right into Ermak’s stomach, and Ermak collapsed to the ground. Draping the now unconscious Ermak over his shoulders like a rucksack, the man took him and walked away... When Ermak woke, he was bound to a chair, staring in the face of a man wearing a strange helmet and had jewels all over his body. The leader, Ermak thought. Noticing that Ermak was conscious, the leader started to talk. “My name is Ughazr, the mighty ruler of Khara-hot, the only city left in the Gobi.” the leader declared proudly. Ermak suddenly noticed something. The dragon pearl was on the leader’s helmet! As realization dawned upon him, thoughts raced through Ermak’s mind, which merged together, slowly, gradually, forming a plan. Ughazr began talking again. “Khara-hot does not allow trespassers. “ He declared. “By trespassing into our territory you have broken one of our laws. You will be punished by our mighty Mongolian Death Worm!’’ The moment its teeth touches your skin, your blood will be filled with poison. But Ermak was only half listening. He had already gotten up, wobbling around like a drunk man, pretending to be crazed with fear. He bumped into Ughazr and in one swift and silent motion, Ermak managed to nick the pearl away from Ughazr’s helmet. Then, he tried to flee. Little did Ermak know that the death worm had already been released, and was slithering silently torwards Ermak. Ermak did not even make it halfway across the room before the horrendous Mongolian Death Worm pounced, it’s giant teeth extended for the kill as it brought it’s teeth down onto Ermak’s arm. Pain flared up all over Ermak’s body. He was able to flee, but knew he only had days to live. Already, Ermak’s eyes were clouded, and with every step he took, his body seemed to break down all over again. By following the creature’s gigantic footsteps, he managed to make it to where his backpack had fallen when he had met the creature. Drinking all the water he had left and eating all the food, he ran, hoping he could make it back home and explain everything to his parents before he died... “Ermak!!” Ermak’s mother screamed in delight. “You are back! Oh, my son, I am so proud of you!” Then, Ermak’s mother looked at his arm, and gasped. “ What...” “Mother, the blood flowing in my body is no longer normal. It is filled with poison. I do not have much time to waste, mother, for I am dying, and I would like to explain to you what happened.” Ermak remained calm despite everything, and began telling his adventures with muffled sobs of grief in the background. Once he had finished, Ermak took out the pearl, handed it to his now devastated mother and said gravely,” Ancestors, I have made you proud. Let me rest in peace! “ Then he knelt before his mother and said, “Mother, I am always with you, alive or dead.” Ermak laid down on his bed, his expression relaxed. He pictured Ughazr howling in disbelief and closed his eyes, a faint smile etched upon his face. Mission Accomplished Singapore International School, Nathaniel Yeoh, Fiction: Group 2

s I stepped out of the plane, hot air blew relentlessly onto my face. It was as though I was stepping into a hot steam room. I could feel the blazing sun scorch my skin, and this was only an early summer’s day in July. This is the Gobi Desert, in Mongolia, a place that is etched forever in my mind. ASuddenly, all my long forgotten memories flashed back like a movie playing vividly in my mind. I remembered it had been exactly twenty years ago. I was ten years old and I was on an expedition with my father in the same Gobi Desert. My father was an archeologist: his passion was examining dinosaur fossils and he had collected about a dozen dinosaur eggs for his archeology research. He was always willing to share with me his knowledge and the new information he had just learned. There had been a recent find, the Therizinosaur, which was supposed to roam the Gobi Desert during the Cretaceous period, some one hundred million years ago. The Therizinosaur was a different species from earlier discovery and was unique because it had very long hair from neck to tail. A fossil egg of the Therizinosaur would have advanced scientific research by leaps and bounds. That same early summer heat had followed us as we searched for that elusive Therizinosaurus egg. The sand was yolk yellow and perspiration from the surrounding heat had soaked my shirt. My father told me that it was typical weather of the plain old wasteland separating China and Mongolia. Camels, scorpions and lizards are its usual inhabitants. Despite the harsh conditions, my father and his colleagues were all upbeat about the prospect of a find. “Dino Egg, here we come,” they exclaimed as they dug. Now, I was back to complete my father’s mission. With new technology, finding dinosaur eggs was a considerably easier task but the Therizinosaurus egg remained notoriously hard to find. The sweltering heat was causing the motor of the detector to break down repeatedly, compounding our challenge. Ten days after our arrival, nothing… We had faced the same uphill struggle twenty years ago. A month into the search in the midst of the harsh, dry conditions, we were starting to be depleted of our supplies. Food and water had to be rationed. Many of my father’s colleagues were beginning to suffer from hunger and dehydration. Confidence also sapped. As we headed into midsummer, the heat became intolerable. We had decided to call it quits for the season. But before we packed up, my father and I decided on one last day of searching. We had walked five kilometres from base camp when the glitter of the ground some fifty metres away caught our attention! Could this be our lucky day? We ran towards the glittering spot but the shine that we had noticed appeared now to have retreated deeper into the sand dunes. In our excitement, we began to dig with our bare hands. Out of the blue, a giant red worm with large and sharp teeth leaped out of the sand! I had remembered researching on a creature that lived in the Gobi Desert. It had a red exoskeleton that killed anyone that touched it instantly. It also had the same sharp teeth that I was now seeing. No! It was the Mongolian death worm! As the worm moved towards me, spitting its turquoise venom, my father came to my rescue. As he pushed me away, he was hit by the venom. A drop of venom could dissolve a human’s skin, eating into the nervous system that caused spasms and ultimately, death. Dad!!! But my cries were in vain as I witnessed my father take his last breath. My eyes glistened with tears as I ran back to base camp to call for help. Now, I was determined to find that Therizinosaurus egg my father and his team never found twenty years ago. It was a mission in honour of my father and nothing would stop me. I searched day and night, twenty four-seven, for that elusive egg. Eighteen arduous days of searching later, I would finally strike gold. As I dug and dug, I came across an oval-shaped object of a dull brown tone. Next to it was the skeletal remains of a baby Therizinosaur! It seemed likely the oval-shaped object was the egg I had been looking for all this while. As I cupped it with my dirt filled hands, I could not contain my excitement! I had to bring it back to S.T.A.R. labs to have it examined. The next few weeks were a tense wait for results. Finally, Dr. Hamilton of the S.T.A.R. labs rang with the good news I was hoping for. Yes, the recognition tests confirmed that the oval- shaped object was the fossil remains of a Therizinosaurus egg! Mission finally accomplished after twenty long years! I knew my father was smiling down from heaven. He would be all too proud of me! The Search For His Compassion Singapore International School, Alex Yu, Fiction: Group 2

here was once a man, named Bataar, who was an archer, which lived in the outskirts of Govi-Altai. He was a handsome man and was adored and fawned over by many. Bataar was the most skilled archer in his generation, and rumored to be the best archer the country had ever seen. Finally, as Bataar grew older, he took on a wife, who bore him 4 Tbeautiful and healthy children. But, even as he aged, his archery abilities kept growing stronger, and he shot animal after animal down without hesitation. As the number of animal skins piled up in their house, Odval, his wife started to worry about him, and why he had no compassion for the animals, or anyone else for that matter. So that night, she asked him “ Bataar, my dear, how is it that you are so heroic and skillful that you feel no sorrow for the animals you shoot down?” Cautious flattery was draped over her words like a translucent cloth. “Yes… how do I do it? Such bravery that I have; but is this skill of mine good or bad? Is it better to fight ruthlessly without feeling sorrow for the ones I kill at times of war, or is it better to care for my loved ones and to feel empathy and compassion for others?” Bataar murmured slowly to himself, tilting his head to the right curiously. That night, he paced around his room restlessly. “Why can’t I feel compassion for others? Am I really heartless and ruthless, just as the animals in the forest probably know me as?” He thought for a while, “ I will travel to the Gobi Desert and take a break from hunting for a period of time.” he decided determinedly. He leaped up in a surge of excitement, throwing his possessions into a bag, and with an afterthought, his bow and arrows too. Just in case. And at the crack of dawn, he left, with a short, hastily written letter addressed to Odval and his children strewn carelessly across the dining table. It was not until 2 days later till he reached the Gobi Desert. The intense heat struck him first; the mirage seemed to play tricks on his eyes and his mind, the sand dunes in the distance seemed to sway, waltzing with the merry song of underground bug chirps. Bataar tried to drag every piece of information he had about the desert he had to the surface of his mind. He hazily recalled the story his mother had told him, about the spirit of Gobi Desert. Legend says that if you manage to wake up the spirit of Gobi Desert, it will answer one question that you yearn to know the answer to. Bataar thought for a while, then his eyes lit up. He took out his bow and arrow, then slotted an arrow into it and aimed, released it and let the arrow fly. The arrow flew straight and true and buried itself into a small jerboa mouse nearby. He then shot another arrow, which lodged itself into a Gold Eagle, which came sailing down from the sky. “I don’t think even the spirit will overlook two of its animals being shot down.” Bataar thought, swinging the bow and arrows over his shoulder. “Spirit! Show yourself! Reply to my summons! Or do I need to prepare another arrow, just for you to wake up?” He yelled boldly, his words resounding across the dunes. Suddenly, the sand in front of him started swirling up, until it was just a yellow blur, and then, all the sand tumbled down and a young man stood in front of Bataar. “I am the Spirit of Gobi Desert. Why do you summon me?” he bellowed, his eyebrows curving in to touch each other. “I want to know why I cannot feel compassion.” Bataar said bluntly. The spirit sighed and flicked his finger I irritably and the whole scene changed. He was back at the forest of Govi-Altai. “What are you doing? It is your duty to answer my question after I have succeeded in summoning you! Why have you sent me back here?” Bataar shouted, looking around the empty forest and shouting at the familiar darkness and the trees. “Oh, but I am answering your question. But just in my own unique way! Just wait and see, Altan Bataar, wait and see…” the spirit’s voice echoed around the tress then slowly trailed off mysteriously. At his last words, a musk deer leaped out of the forest and then stopped abruptly, regarding him warily. His hands immediately flew to the bow and arrow slung over his shoulder and with lightning quick agility, he had snuggled a arrow into the nocking point and aimed it straight at the deer’s head. The musk deer narrowed its eyes, unflinching at the sight of the arrow. “I’ve heard of you.” It said, “We deer have many names for you. We call you: The One With No Heart, He Who Kills With No Remorse and The Bloodthirsty Hunter. Now that I actually have met you in person, I see that it is all true. I have a family waiting for me to come back home, though now that is just a wishful thought. I have a beautiful wife and three wonderful children and one child of mine is sick, but I will never see him again. But why do you care? You hunt the weak and I am just proving to you that I am weaker than the smallest mouse.” Bataar hesitated, and then slowly lowered his bow. He frowned. What was happening? Why had he not shot it at the first chance he had got? His eyes widened as he realized he had just felt… compassion. The musk deer nodded satisfactorily. “You lowered your bow. Why? Because you felt pity for the deer. You put yourself in his shoes and related his problems to your own life. You have always had compassion in you, you have just never mindfully thought about your feelings.” The spirit of Gobi Desert’s voice echoed out of the musk deer’s mouth. He smiled at Bataar once, and then he vanished into thin air. “Isn’t it twice as good that you can now touch others not only with your arrows, but with your heart too?” the spirit’s murmured in his ear. A story about Gobi Desert SKH Chu Oi Primary School, Ivan Kwong, Fiction: Group 2

verybody, wake up now. We arrived at the Gobi Desert,” the tour guide Wilson said. I “ got off the car with my friends Desmond, Billy, Brian and Ryan. We were very excited because this was the first time we went to a desert. Wilson took us to a small house. There were some Bactrian camels. Wilson said ‘These camels are very rare. We can only Esee them in Mongolia. Even in the Gobi Desert, you only have a little chance to see them. If you have ever seen these camels in your life that means you are very lucky.’ And then, he let us to ride on them. I felt very glad since I had never ridden on a camel before. We continued our journey by the camels. After 5 minutes, we saw fifteen gray wolves. They looked very hungry. Billy and I were very afraid of them. Therefore, we got off the camel and ran away immediately. Desmond saw me get away so he also ran away quickly. Wilson took a gun out from his bag. We were surprised because we had never seen a real gun before. He shot a wolf but the others weren’t afraid. He continued shooting the others. However, they still ran to my camel and Desmond’s. Right on cue, they ate our camels brutally. We nearly wanted to cry. However, Wilson ordered us to follow him shortly, so we ran after him. It became colder and colder. The sky became darker and darker. We knew it was nightfall so we took out our jackets quickly. Wilson called us to make up a fire. We used some wood we brought and some matches. We made a fire quickly. We were very thankful but the temperatures continued to drop. Although I wore two jackets and one of it was made of down I still felt cold. At midnight, it was only -3 degrees Celsius. The next day, Wilson took us to the border of China and Mongolia. We went there because we were doing a science research about dinosaurs that lived there during the end of the Cretaceous Period. Wilson said, ‘The Gobi desert is becoming bigger and bigger because of desertification. There are four countries threatened. In China the desertification of Gobi even affects Beijing.’ We were very surprised to hear this news. We discovered that we had drunk all our water. Therefore we went looking for a pool or well. We looked for it for a whole day but we couldn’t find it. We were very thirsty. We didn’t have anything to eat and we were very hungry too. We almost had no power to walk. Luckily, we found a pool the next day. There was a herd of black tailed gazelles drinking water. I used my gun to shoot one of them and it died. We could drink water and ate that gazelle. I felt like we ‘killed two birds with one stone’. I was brave and proud of myself at that time. After we had finished drinking the water, the grounds shook. We were afraid. We thought that this was an earthquake but we were wrong. Suddenly a long, big and snake-like shaped worm jumped out from underground. We were very scared! ‘It is the Mongolia death worm. Run away!’ Wilson shouted fearfully. However, Wilson could not escape. The death worm tore Wilson apart with its sharp teeth. It was very horrible. Ryan and I took the cameras out and took some photos of it. Desmond and Brian took the guns out and shot the death worm quickly. However, it escaped easily. We felt helpless and sad since Wilson died. We did not know how we could leave the desert now. I was digging on the sand because I thought there would be some water underground. I was very surprised when I discovered a big bone. I thought it was the bone of a Tyrannosaurus. If I could find the whole set of bones, I could give them to a museum and show them everyone. The museum keeper would give us a lot of money. We would also be very famous. After some effort, all the bones were dug up by us. Night was coming again. We made up a fire quickly and got ready for a cold night. And so, days went by quickly. After a week, we drank all the water and ate all of our food. We were helpless. We didn’t know what to do. When we felt despair, there was a helicopter that came by. The pilot saw us and landed on the sand easily. He then took us back to Hong Kong. We were very joyful and grateful that could go back home. After arriving in Hong Kong, we were sent to the hospital immediately to check our body condition. Luckily, although we stayed in the Gobi Desert for fifteen days with little water and food, we had no problems in our bodies. The doctors thought that was unbelievable. We also told what happened in Gobi desert to the police. We even showed the photos to them. They thought it was incredible. After doing these things, we went to the restaurant to eat and drink a lot since we were really hungry and thirsty. Our families came to visit us too. They looked very worried. In the following days, we auctioned the bones of dinosaur in the internet. There were three countries that wanted to buy them. Those countries were China, America and England. They proposed higher and higher prices every day. Finally, we sold them to America because they gave us 1,000,000 US dollars. We felt very crazy and happy after we had taken this big money. Although this journey was unbelievable, I thought it was very exciting. I also felt glad since we got a lot of money. However, I was very sad about Wilson’s death. Anyway, I love this adventure and I will not forget it. Gobi desert SKH Chu Oi Primary School, Kawaii Lin, Fiction: Group 2

“Olivia, Justin and Leon, come here.” said Mr. Chan. “Yes, how can we help?” “Tomorrow, you three will go to the Gobi desert to research the condition of the main animals there in the past and present. You also need to imagine the condition of Gobi desert in the future. Don’t be lazy there, you need to give me a report!” said Mr. Chan My name is Olivia and I am a university student. Yesterday, under the order of my teacher Mr. Chan, I need to go to Gobi desert with another two students called Justin and Leon today. Now, we are going there by car. “I am very worried that we will get lost,” I said. “Don’t worried. My cousin Andrew has lived there for twenty years. He can be our guide during these days,” said Justin. Suddenly, the car stopped. The driver said,” Oh! Justin, I am so sorry that I can’t drive you and your friends to your cousin’s home. There isn’t enough petrol for my car. You must walk there.” What an unfortunate day for us! After we brought enough water and our cameras, we started our thirty-minute walk immediately. As expected, we arrived at our destination at half past six in the evening. However, the village was too large. We couldn’t find Andrew and his house. Luckily, a boy suddenly ran forward Justin and hugged him. The boy said, “Justin, why did you visit me with Leon so abruptly? You had just visited me last week. Oh! Is this girl your girlfriend?” “Don’t kidding, Andrew! Olivia is my friend only!” said Justin angrily. Andrew laughed. He said to Justin, “Do you remember the game we played in the past? If I can joke with you and make you angry, I’ll win and you’ll lose. Now, I won.” “Be serious! Let’s return to the subject. We need to research the condition of the main animals that live in the Gobi desert in the past and present. We wanted you to be our guide,” Justin said. “No problem.” said Andrew without any hesitation. First, Andrew introduced us to the camels. He led us to a camel. It was brown. Its back was different from the other animals. It had a hump just like a small mountain! Andrew said that some even had two humps. They could help camels save their fats so that they don’t need to eat everyday. Camels are hard-working there. They help people carry things everyday. If a cat has nine lives, a camel must has ten or even twenty lives. After we took photos with the camels, Andrew thought that we needed to take a break. He guided us to his house and we all had a seat. During these minutes, he asked, “Have you heard or seen the Mongolian Death Worm before?” “I have seen it in the movies before. It is about 1.5 metres long. I heard it can be even longer and bigger than a plane. Is this true?” said Leon. “Sorry, I can’t answer you. Many of the people who have seen it before have died. But, I can tell you that Mongolian Death Worm is a scary and dangerous animal. Someone alleged that it can spray poison beyond several feet. It can discharge electricity too. It can even corrode anything it touches into yellow.” said Andrew. “Don’t be so scared! Let’s continue our journey!” said Leon. After we have gained some more knowledge about the Mongolian Death Worm, Andrew led us to a strange place. He swept aside the sand and something appeared. Oh! They’re dinosaur bones! We took photos with them at once. Why? It’s a rare experience! Andrew said that there were many kinds of dinosaurs many years ago such as the Tarbosaurus, Deinocheirus and Oviraptor. At that time and age, many of the dinosaurs chose to live in the Gobi desert because it was huge enough to let them live with their companions. Therefore, we could find a lot of dinosaur fossils there. They were very common there. “It is late now. Let’s continue our job tomorrow!” I said. “Oh! It’s ten o’clock now.” said Justin and Leon. Andrew replied, “We must go back now. It may be dangerous at night.” After Leon, Justin and I heard the word of Andrew, we ran quickly. Why? We didn’t want to be in danger! After all of us went back to Andrew’s home, we were extremely sleepy and tired. Everyone was asleep soon except me. I was too scared of danger. I woke Leon and Justin up. I told them my fears and Leon said, “Don’t be timid as a mouse! Olivia, you must face and overcome your fears.” “Yes, Leon is right,” said Justin. At that moment, I suddenly discovered that Leon’s word was right. I must be courageous to overcome my fears. I thanked Justin and Leon for encouraged me. Simultaneously, I promised not to be so timid in the future. After a meaningful night, we ate some food and discussed what we need to do today. “Have we research all the condition of the main animals here in the past and present yet?” asked Justin. “Yes.” replied Andrew. “Have we take enough photos yet?” I said. “Yes.” replied Leon. “So now, we only need to imagine the condition of Gobi desert in the future.” said Justin. Suddenly, I had an idea, I said, “I have heard about desertification before. It means that plant-covered land becomes barren. It is fearful. If this phenomenon keeps on worsening, many animals, plants and people may die.” “It’s a good idea! Under desertification, the Gobi desert will become bigger and bigger. It may have more animals here too.” said Leon. We wrote our ideas down at once. As expected, we finished our report soon. “What a happy moment! All of us have finished our work!” said Andrew. “We will miss you very much, Andrew. See you soon!” said Justin, Leon and I. “Bye!” said Andrew with a smile. I know that he was smiling unwillingly. He might cry after we left. Therefore, I gave him a tissue before we left. “Well done! Olivia, Justin and Leon, your report is very detail.” said Mr. Chan.” Thanks, Mr. Chan.” said Justin, Leon and I. “Tomorrow, you three will go to Shenzhen to have a research.” said Mr. Chan. “What?” we said. New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Chan Cho Ue Chloe, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there are two cats called Gobi and Desert. They went to find a witch because they wanted to turn into human being. It is because they wanted to be robberies and rob a lot of money. The witch gave them a bottle of magical potion. They drank it immediately. After that they turned into two handsome boys. They went to the O‘ruby castle’ and robbed a lot of jewelries. Suddenly, Gobi took a flash sapphire tam then they disappeared. Where did they go? They went to a desert! This desert is a magical desert, many people hope to go there but people couldn’t because no one knew how to, there was no transportation available. They walked along the footprint and they found a big castle. Suddenly a soldier said yelled ‘two princes have come back!!!!!’All the people shouted loudly. They were surprised. They thought ‘Why are we princes? We are two cats only!’ They followed a solider and entered the castle. They ate and drank happily in the castle. However, two people came out from nowhere and said ‘We are the real princes.’ Gobi and Desert were afraid so they escaped as fast as.they could. They needed to ranger again. On the way, they found two camels and they climbed the camels. They felt tired afterwards. Gobi bathed at an oasis but Desert did not like bathing so he played with camels only. They continued to find the exit of this desert... They found a hole and got inside. A person was inside, he was the host of the desert called Nic. They asked Nic where the exit of this desert immediately .Nic did not answered them and just sat there quietly. Gobi and Desert did not give up. They sat near Nic for one night . On the next day, Nic said he would tell them the secret of the desert but they needed to finish a mission first. The mission is ‘Find five magical stones’ Nic gave them the prompt then they started to find the stones. Gobi found out three stones but Desert did not find one. Finally the two stones were in Gobi’s and Desert’s body. They found out all the stones and Nic told them the secret of this desert… In fact, their mother and father were the king and the queen of the desert. However, the present king Lucus killed them with dirty tricks so that he could be the king.Gobi and Desert cried and shouted ‘Dad, Mum!’ They and Nic then went to the castle and quarrel with Lucus. Finally, Gobi and Desert won. They both became the kings then they changed the name of this desert to ‘Gobi Desert’. They found the exit of Gobi Desert later on but they didn’t want to go back to the human world so they can enjoy their life here forever. New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Lee Ho Chun Sam, Fiction: Group 2

ong long time ago , there was a town in Asia that called ‘Gobi Town’. It was very popular because of its prosperity. Many people lived there were very rich, they were living in their big houses with large gardens. At that time, there was a monster called ‘Sandsand’. It was as large as a building. It Llived in the deep sea of Pacific Ocean. It had a body which made by large amount of sand. Its face was made by sand too. But its eyes were made by ice-cream so it was a cute monster! Although it was cute, it was an evil monster which damaged the houses in ‘Gobi Town’ and killed the people there. That’s why the people were very frightened whenever hearing the name of Sandsand. Sandsand was very lazy. It always slept deeply. It slept for three hundred and thirty five days each time. Therefore, Sandsand woke up in each other year. It would swam on-shore when it woke up. It would destroy the buildings and shoot the human by its ‘sand gun’. Then, it would eat the human who was already dead. Unluckily, there were more than a thousand human were killed by Sandsand. Sandsand was clever too. It could use the rubbish to block the road which people could escape to other country. Moreover , it could call some sharks to swim around the city so that the people couldn’t escape by swimming. If it couldn’t finish to eat all the people, it would bring the people which Sandsand caught but it couldn’t finish to eat it to its cage in the sea. The people thought that they must be killed by Sandsand. However, no one dared to do it. Few weeks later, a hero who helped other country to catch the thieves before he came. He called ‘Heero’. He was a strong man. There was a sword on his back. He looked cool. The king of Gobi Town asked Heero to kill the monster. He did not think about it and accepted. On the last day of the year, the monster Sandsand came out again. Heero was waiting him on the beach bravely but the other human was running up the mountain to avoid Sandsand to come. “Roarh”! Monster Sandsand barked and barked when it was swimming near the beach. It did some amusing face to Heero. Heero laughed as crazy as dancing. Suddenly, Sandsand fought with Heero when Heero was laughing. Heero fell down and died. Then, Sandsand rushed into the city and destroyed the buildings. Next, it caught a lot of human to its cage . Sandsand was surprised. After three months , an army came because he heard Gobi City had a monster. He called ‘Gunman’. He is an army from America. He wore a vest. His hands were holding a machine gun always. However, he was only good at shooting but weak in swimming and running . The king of Gobi City asked The king of Gobi City asked him to kill the monster. Unluckily, he was afraid but he was proud. He thought he must win. On the last day of the year, Gunman was waiting monster Sandsand on the beach in the morning while the other people were escaping. Gunman was frightening. However, monster Sandsand did not come until evening. Gunman stood for few hours. He and the people were puzzled. But he was very tired so he slept on the ground. When he was sleeping, monster Sandsand fought with him suddenly and…… Two heroes who wanted to help Gobi City were dead. The king of Gobi City was disappointed. In fact, the king and the queen of Gobi City were not the same as human. They had some mystery. They thought they could try once to kill monster Sandsand. On the last day of the year, they wait monster Sandsand on the boat. They took some weapon like shield or archer. All of a sudden, monster Sandsand came and fought at them but they use the shield. After that, they used the archer to shoot at monster Sandsand. But it avoided. The king and the queen of Gobi City escaped to the beach. Sandsand caught them until they escaped to the city. Sandsand became big and big suddenly and fight at the king and the queen of Gobi City. They fell down. However, Jesus came and gave the king and the queen of Gobi City a strong power. They use their power to perish together. Finally, a strong explosion made all the things bomb. All the building was destroyed and all the human dead. Monster Sandsand and the king and the queen of Gobi City died too. The sand of the monster Sandsand’s body splashed over Gobi City. Gobi City became a dessert. About the the king and the queen of Gobi City, the king became a camel. The queen became a cactus. They lived there happily because they did not have any worry anymore in there. They could meet each other anytime. Although Gobi Desert was a dessert, there was lots of water. Gradually, the birds lived in here too. Simultaneously, a lot of humans lived in here too. Thereafter, the human renamed ‘Gobi City’ to ‘Gobi Desert’. But one day, the humans who lived there provoked a war. They used the water gun to be the main weapon. Hence, they wasted a lot of water. After the war was stopped, they discovered that they waste a lot of water. There was very less water. After a few months, they finished all the water already for food and war. Lots of people were thirsty. Therefore, they left Gobi Dessert. Only less than fifty people lived there. By degrees, Gobi Desert became a big dessert in Asia. There lived few animals and plants. All of them lived happily there. If you ask me Gobi Desert is a happy city? I must answer “yes”! New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Tang Hoi Tung Yoyo, Fiction: Group 2

long time ago in Mongolia , there was a girl called Sofia. Her father is a driver. Two days ago, a terrible accident happened. Her father crashed straight into a tree. Her mother was dead in this accident and her father was in the hospital. Poor Sofia was packing her father’s things. She has found a little box which contained a parchment. SofiaA opened the parchment. This was a treasure map! Sofia was surprised. She got the treasure map and ran to the hospital. “Dad, where did you get this map?” asked Sofia.“That’s a map which showed the powerful medicine. It can cure all kinds of disease, and rose again the death. I wanted to find it to cure your mother but I couldn’t. Sofia, can you help me for this?” Sofia’s dad said. The brave girl agreed. “However, where can I found this?” “In the Gobi Desert. That was all I know,” answered Sofia’s dad. The brave girl started her journey. Sofia was tired and she went to a hole to have a nap first. When she woke up, she looked at the map. The treasure is in the oasis. Sofia walked and walked. Suddenly, a strange noise was coming nearby. Sofia looked around. A sandstorm was coming. Sofia was afraid and she screamed loudly. Forturnately, the sandstorm became smaller and smaller. Sofia continued her journey. At the way, there got some desert shrubbery. Sofia felt hungry and she began to eat some. “ These fruit are delicious!” thought Sofia. After the meal, Sofia seemed tired. She sat on a rock. She saw something on the ground. “ That a marbled pole cats, isn’t it?” thought Sofia. She put the marbled pole cats on her thigh. She liked this animal very much. The marbled pole cats liked Sofia also. Sofia named it Bobo and it became Sofia’s pet. Night came and they slept in a hole. The next morning Sofia and Bobo continued the journey. The way was quite smoothly but suddenly a crowd of snow leopards came. Sofia was terrified. Abruptly, some arrows came behind Sofia. A young girl was trying to save Sofia. Soon, all the snow leopards was killed. Sofia thanks the girl. The girl asked “Why are you in the desert? Are you also wanted to find the powerful medicine?” “ Yes, me too!” said Sofia. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Alicia and I came from Sichuan” said the girl. “Nice to meet you, I am Sofia.” said Sofia. “Can we find the medicine together?” asked Alicia. “Sure!” replied Sofia. The two girls was happy. They have got a companion. With a friend, Sofia get easier to find the treasure. One day, the two girls felt tired . They saw a land which there were many trees and a little pond. They decided to took a rest there. “ What a beautiful oasis!” cried Alicia. “ A oasis ?”said Sofia. “Yea, a oasis. What the matter?” asked Alicia. “Alicia, we had found the treasure! The treasure is over there!” shout Sofia. The two girl were happy! They got many of them. It’s the time for Sofia to part from Alicia. The two girls were reluctant to part. Sofia go to the hospital and give the medicine to her father. His father was happy. Sofia put the medicine in her dead mother’s mouth. A miracle things happened. Sofia’s mother woke up! When others heard that, they were surprised. Sofia donated all the medicine to the hospital. All the people were saved! Nowadays, the people in Mongolia would like to found this medicine but they can’t. However, they still believe the miracle story of Sofia and her family New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Wu Katrina Kelly, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, in the Gobi Desert was full of villages and villagers because there was a guardian bird name “Grid” who guard the villages live there, defense their village, keep them away from danger, even use his magic heal power to heal the sick villagers. One night, a traveler name “Shara” came to Gobi Desert, she put a lot silk of her Obody instead of normal clothes. The nice villagers kept her to stay for one night because the Gobi Desert is very very cold at night. The villager told Shara legends and tales about the Gobi Desert, of cause, they told Shara the story of their guardian-Grid’s story. What marvelous things that Grid did. There was once a powerful sandstorm in Gobi Desert, but the villagers are not afraid of it, because Grid’s magic shield protected the village and the villagers from the powerful sandstorm. No one was died and no buildings were destroyed. In the next morning, Shara woke up earlier than any other villagers. She checked every houses she passed to make sure not villagers were awoke. She walked slowly and makes sure not a single step made any noise. She walked straight to the altar of Grid’s. She knelt and prayed to Grid. Suddenly, a light was shown in front of Shara and it slowly turned into a bird.“Who are you? I never met a person wear strange clothes like you, you must be from another place but not the village.” said the bird in front of Shara. “Nice to meet you. You must be Grid. You were correct. I am from another country but not this village.” replied Shara. “What were you wishing for? Even you are not from the village, I still will finish what you are wishing for.” said Grid without any feelings. Shara pulled down the silk on her body, burned skin was shown on her body, and then she said, “I need my skin to be normal again, I hate to but on silk on my body but not normal clothes, it is very hot.” Grid listened patiently and said, ”Okay. I will heal u.” A second later, Grid took a deep deep breath and mumble magic spells. A slash of light slash forward to Shara. Shara blinked at the momet. The light warp Shara tight and tight and everything end when Shara opend her eyes again. Grid was standing in front of her. Lights gather in one of Grid’s wings, and a mirror showed, Grid hand it to Shara. Shara grabbed it from Grid and look in the mirror, her face was shown in the mirror, she is beautiful as an angel.”This all I will do for you, no wishes you can make any more, my dear.” Shara took the sword under the silk on her body and point it to Grid and said, “One of the stories that the villagers told me is that the feather of Grid has heal power. I want all of it.” “I won’t let you do that. Each feather cost me a thousand years from my life.” said Grid in a very low voice. However, Shara didn’t listen. She run straight to Grid with her sword. Grid can’t dodge so the sword hurt Grid, light came out of Grid and grained to Shara. “This……is a curse. From now on…..neither yours scars nor injure will never get heal.” said Grid weakly. Shara is ran out of blood and she died in a bloody way. At last, the amount of village and villagers in Gobi Desert are very less because no one protects them. New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Ng Ling Shan Matthew, Fiction: Group 2

n a sunny day, Jack was reading the newspaper. The news made Jack surprised. “Last night, a wizard put a spell on the King. Only a special flower in Gobi Desert called Bindweed can relieved the spell. Either the spell can be relieved in 24 hours or the King would die. The person who can save the King will get $1000000 as a reward.” O“Let’s go to get the flower now!” said Jack. Jack and Winnie just backed from the swimming class. “No, I want to change my swimming suit first,” said Winnie. “Oh, that’ll take too long,” said Jack. “Don’t you want to save the King as soon as possible?” asked Jack. “Of course.” said Winnie. “Then come on! We have to come back before the morning comes!” said Jack. They got on the jet immediately and set off to Gobi Desert to save the King. They got changed on the jet and they arrived after a few minutes. When the door opened, hot air flushed. Everywhere was sand and mountains. “Can I help you?” said someone gently. Suddenly, some things spoke. Winnie and Jack looked for everywhere but there was no sign of the sound. Winnie said, “Wow! You are so cute!” Jack turned around, it is a Jerboa called Nicky. It has long ears and small round body. Soon they became friends. “We are looking for Bindweed to save our King. Can you tell us where it is?” begged Jack. “My mum told me that is on a high mountain, but it had disappeared for years,” said Nicky. “I promise to help you to find the Bindweed because you are kind and brave to save your King.” The unbearably hot weather made the journey very difficult. On the way to mountain, Nicky told them lots about the Gobi Desert. Suddenly, Winnie lost. There was a deep hole and she fell into it. Jack fell beside her while he was looking for Winnie. “Are you all right?” Nicky asked them. “Yes,” Jack and Winnie said. They both looked up. They were in a deep hole. “I think the Asiatic Ibex can help!” Nicky shouted. “Who’s that?” said Jack. “Asiatic Ibex is a clever wild mountain goat,” Nicky said. Nicky got the Asiatic Ibex’s help very soon. “Help us! The pit is too deep to climb out of,” Jack said. “No problem! Be calm.” said the Asiatic Ibex. The Asiatic Ibex jumped into the hole. Jack and Winnie stay on it’s back and the Asiatic Ibex climbed out from the hole easily. “Thanks,” said Jack, standing. The Asiatic Ibex had beard and long horns. “Can you do me a favour?” said Winnie. “What do you want?” the Asiatic Ibex replied. “We are looking for the Bindweed to save our King.” said Winnie. “Bindweed? It’s in the Mountain Cox and it’s very difficult to get it,” said the Asiatic Ibex. “Please! We have to get it back by tomorrow morning,” said Winnie. Their passion touched the Asiatic Ibex. “Then come with me,” said the Asiatic Ibex. Finally, they got the Bindweed on the top of the Mountain Cox. It was a very beautiful white flower, just like a diamond shinning in the snow. Jack picked and held it in his hand carefully. “You need to bring it back as soon as possible, otherwise, it will disappear after 24 hours,” said the Asiatic Ibex. “Besides, you have to beware of the Gold Eagle. He will attack you if you have the Bindweed~ the treasure of the Mountain Cox. The Asiatic Ibex gave Jack and Winnie a horn with holes. He reminded them to take it out when they met the Gold Eagle. “Thank you,” said Jack. Then they left the Asiatic Ibex. While they headed back to the jet, the Gold Eagle flew on top of their heads and wanted to catch them. “Take out the horn,” said Jack. Winnie was holding the horn and said, “It likes a flute.” “Blow!” Jack whispered in the ear of Winnie. Winnie started to blow, the Gold Eagle slowed down. Then Winnie blew forcefully, he flew far away from them. “Hooray!” Jack and Winnie clapped their hands together. They got on the jet and flied back. They gave the Bindweed to the King and the spell went off amazingly. Finally, Jack and Winnie got the prize but they decided to use it to help the poor. New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School Pri Sch, Wong Lok Yee Koe, Fiction: Group 2

any, many years ago, there was a happy, wealthy and beautiful place called Paradise. All people lived there were as same as immortals and fairies, they knew how to enjoy themselves. Day after day, they became selfish, they did not know how to cherish water, food, animals or plants. When they cooked too much, they preferred Mto throw them away rather than to give them to the animals to eat. The animals always felt hungry. When they were bored, they captured the animals and pressed them to trick such as monkeys dressed up in silly clothes and to have fun from the animals. Sometimes, they targeted the animals by guns to make them frightening until the animals were crying then they laughed at the animals. The people were indifferent to the animals’ feeling. They were so cruel. Not only the animals, even the plants, when the plants could not bloom, they would cut them down and burn them up. Over quite a long time, the people’s evil behavior had heard by the God of Heaven, the God was so angry of their insidious, so he gave them a punishment which was the horrible lightning occurred simultaneously for a long period and directly struck to the earth, but the people did not afraid of that, even though some plants were burned up, they still continued their evil tricks, they pushed the animals out and the animals had been struck by lightning and died, the people felt excited and happy. The God thought that the people were incorrigible. Therefore he gave them another harsh and unforgiving punishment again. One midnight, all people lived in Paradise had the same nightmare which they dreamed the God of Heaven was floating in the sky and said to them, “This is a punishment for you due to your evil behaviors of wastage of food, wastage of water, destroyed the plants and animals abuse, I have give all of you the chance to correct but no one repent the offenses. That is why you all will be punished. It is too late to regret now!” After the nightmare, all people woke up and they knew that which was not a nightmare, it was a fact, then they got away and they all wanted to get out of inferno to have survival chance. Suddenly, the sky turned into black, a furious storm was coming, howling wind, driving rain, the rocks were rolling down from the mountains, all plants were withering, the jungles were burning, all the lakes and rivers were in arid, all things were in a terrible situation. The people in Paradise were so scared, they ran and ran and ran……….. When some of the people were looking back, they saw the thunder and lightning were shocking behind them. Suddenly, there was gloom above and darkness below, the fierce wind whiled the sand high up to the sky then over the whole Paradise, sand destroyed the beautiful and wealthy city. The climate was disgusting. Some people of Paradise were die of frost at night, others were die of overheat in daytime. Paradise became a ghost town, no one can be alive. Some years later, there were a lot of people migrated from other places as their living area was overcrowded, and lack of arable land for live hood then they became the pioneers of that wasteland. When they moved there, they realized that there was not a farmland but there was suitable for some livestock, such as sheep and goats. Then the people settled down there and developed their community. They all had heard the terrible legend, and they took the legend as a good lesson, they were hardworking, modest and friendly. They named this community “Gobi Desert”. “Gobi” means no plant can be grown, there is waterless. “Desert” means a place covered with sand dunes and rocks. They called themselves “Nomad” which means always move from here to there. From the day end of city Paradise, all people believed that there were four punishment terms had been continued till today, therefore all people lived in Gobi Desert must overcome many challenges and difficulties. First, Gobi Desert has a little water but which is always murky or not be safe to drink. Second is the food is scarce, just like boiled noodles with a broth of goat milk. The people always milking sheep and goats as their main job, and they sleep in a gel which is a big tent for Nomadic. Nomad always under the sunburn for a long period of time at day, the temperature is over 95 degrees F, at night, the temperature will decrease to -120 degrees F. And there often windy, has sand storms in summer and ice storms in winter. These poor living terms are punished for the wastage of food, and the wastage of water passed from the Paradise ancestry. Third, there are different kinds of plants in Gobi Desert, but most of them are desert shrubberies, not many plants will bloom. This is the punishment of not caring of plants of Paradise ancestry, they previously always cut and burnt the plants, they had not protect the natural environment. The last rumor is that Gobi Desert has many special animals, but all are cruel, dangerous and harmful to humans, such as wolves, brown bears and snow leopards. Especially the Mongolian death worm, it is a red, big furious worm, which can spit acidic liquid and can electrocute creatures and humans, it may shock several meters away to the prey and who will die at once. This worm lives with viper and poisonous spider. All people in Gobi Desert are much scared of this worm. This is the punishment of the Paradise ancestry abused the animals previously. Nowadays, Gobi Desert is a place with harsh and unforgiving environment. Gobi Desert is also full of legends, rumor and mystery. New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Mak Man Yan Mandy, Fiction: Group 2

ne day, a little young girl who was called Jane. She likes traveling to the desert because she thought that traveling to different dessert is excited and amazed. Every time she went to the desert she had lots of fun. This time she heard a tale which happen in a desert, the Gobi Desert. There lived an old man who had abundant money and jewel, but Oone thing he don’t have! ”Who can help me, I will give that person all my property!” Many people were very curious and full of questions of this tale. Many of them went to Gobi Desert and lose their life. That’s why Jane wanted to go Gobi Desert. She checked the information of Gobi Desert, like: temperature, eco-systems, the wind speed… Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and China border, extending 500,000 square miles. ”Its geographical environment unpredictable, reflecting as eye, full of towering red sand dunes and jagged cliffs, as well as stretches of hills and valleys. Wow! What are wonderful place! ” Jane said. She walked and walked until she found a little ugly house. She walked into that house and asked, “ Excuse me, Do you know the tale of here?” a old woman came out and said,” Little girl, I suggest you don’t go to find that old man, many people lose their life because of careless, you better not to go, stop it please! “You can be assured. Please tell me where is that man live in.” ”Walk straight 10 km, then turn left to a large building and go to second floor to find him. Good luck!” “Thank you.” “There has been endless sand dunes, stubbornly above the many plants growing in there Salix, splendens, sparsifolia ... they seem not afraid of drought, some gilded green leaves, and some red flowers open, to the monotonous desert increased the number of colors of life. ”Jane thought. She encounter with the sand, and it was so sudden emergence, or just the sun in the sky, the sun is at the foot of gravel Sunburn feet, everyone kept hot all gasp. But the blink of an eye, the day suddenly changed. She wearing masks, and surrounded by a towel, but his mouth still filled with sand, just felt like his throat on fire, like, very thirsty, grabbed the kettle to two Akira Akira, there is no early empty drop it. She took out toothpaste. She effortlessly unscrewed the cap with his teeth, mouth to squeeze for a while, suddenly felt much cooler. She spent 1 day to find the old man. She went to second floor and said, ”Old man, I am Jane. I want to solve your problem.” Jane thought, ”Nobody live with he. He doesn’t have family? Let’s try it first.” “You want to find you family but they all die or lose. Right?” Jane said uncertainly. The old man cried griefly. ”Yes…Yes… You are right. I will give you all my money and property.” Jane got some of the money and go back to Hong Kong but she didn’t tell to anybody. She wants this touching tale circulated forever… New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Fung Tsz Ching Sharon, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, there was a wonderful place called Gobi. It was a forest. There were many animals and birds living there happily. The governor of Gobi who was appointed by the God called Oasis. He was nice to everyone. All the animals and the birds loved him. They got on with one another very well. OOne day, there was a beautiful girl appeared in Gobi. She was nervous and scared. She ran and looked all around aside. One bird saw her and flied before her. The bird said, “ Hello, can I help you?” The girl was more scared and asked curiously, “Who are you?” The bird said, “I am Lily, I live in the forest. Are you a stranger here?” The girl said, “Yes, I am lost. I am a princess from Gold country. My name is Starry. I was lost when I was going through this forest with my army. My father wanted me to marry the king of the neighbor country. I didn’t want to do so. I ran away. But I don’t know where I can go now. Can you help me?” The bird said, “I don’t know how to help you, but I know Oasis can help you. Oasis is our governor. He is nice. I take you to meet him. Please follow me.” Then, Starry met Oasis at Oasis’s house. Oasis’s house was simply but clean and tidy. They sat down in the house. The bird told Oasis the story about Starry. Oasis was attracted by Starry’s beauty. He said to Starry, “If you would like me to help you, I would be only too glad to. You could stay here with me if you want.” Starry said, “Yes, I want to stay here.” From then on, they married and lived in the forest happily. One day, Starry said to Oasis, “You are the governor of the forest. You must live in a gorgeous palace but not this simply house. Your subjects should build a gorgeous palace for you if they thought you were a ruler enthroned in the hearts of them.” Oasis said, “You are right. I will ask them to build a gorgeous palace for us.” On the next day, all the animals that lived in the forest started to build the palace. They cut many trees for the palace. But Starry still didn’t satisfy. She wanted more trees to build the palace. Finally, a gorgeous palace was built but a lot of trees were lost. Most of the birds flied away. One day, Oasis could not hear the sound of the birds. He went outside of the palace. He couldn’t see the trees around his palace like before. Oasis was shocked. He asked the animals what had happened. The animals told him the reason. He was regret. He said to Starry, “We can’t cut the trees anymore because the trees are important to the animals or us.” Starry said, “Don’t worry, we are still very well. The trees don’t affect our life.” Then, Starry asked the animals to cut the trees making the furniture and decorations for her continuously. Two years later, the more trees were cut, the more animals left Gobi. At last, there were few trees in Gobi. Oasis and Starry lived in the palace. They felt lonely. One day, a wind scraped to Gobi. After the wind raged for three days, the wind became hurricane. Suddenly, everything was covered with sand because there were not trees to resist the hurricane. The hurricane was a great misfortune for Gobi. Gobi became a desert. Oasis and Starry were regret very much. They prayed. They asked God to forgive. At that time, an angel came before them. The angel gave them a seed and said, “You must grow this seed diligently. If the seed grow up to a tree, the desert will disappear.” Oasis and Starry said with tear, “Yes, we will grow this seed diligently. Gobi will become a forest again.” Then, the angel disappeared in the sky. From that time on, they grew the seed diligently every day… New Tales of the Gobi Desert The first rain in Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Lau Woon Sing, Fiction: Group 2

fter Pangu had died, his five sons carried on their life stories in the world. Let me introduce them to you. The eldest was Antarctic. The next was Arctic. Then, the third son, who has brown skin, was Sahara. Arabian and Gobi, the twins, were the youngest. They all lived happily. AThey played together, they slept together…Since they were immortal at that time, they kept their affectionate relationship for millions of years. They also had countless wealth, land, power to control the weather… It’s really a perfect world to them! However, they had an argument one day! A cloud suddenly came and everybody thought it was theirs. They then fought for cloud. The spirit of Pangu was woken up. He challenged them to have a competition. He gave each son a fighter: Aiced, Afroze, Asun, Asand and Afuchi. They would fight on behalf of their masters, the eldest to the youngest son. The first round started, the competitors needed to grow as many plants as possible in a year. Although Aiced and Afroze worked so hard, they couldn’t get any plant because their weather controller had been spoilt. They kept having cold weather. The other three people did it well. Afuchi had got different seeds from different places, so he won the first competition by growing 100,000 kinds of flowers. The second round came. The sons had to induce the strongest wind to destroy others’ territories. However, Aiced cheated! He used magic to make the land disappear so he was foul. Others did their best to make ‘the speediest’ wind. Afuchi, the winner of last competition, won again. He made wind that ran 10000 miles per hour! It was even faster than the speed of sound! Although Afuchi used all his strength to win the competitions, his master, Gobi wasn’t grateful for him. Gobi still gave so little food, so few clothes for him, Afuchi had almost nothing- except his body. Pangu’s anger was growing. He made a lightning to strike at Gobi’s House. Gobi ignored it. Eh! He still kept doing bad things though all his money was swept away. The third round started. Every competitor was ready-but not Afuchi. He was called back to Pangu. Therefore, no one would help Gobi anymore. Gobi needed to do everything by himself. The task of this round was to chat with one another because Pangu wants them to bridge their relationship. Everyone gradually became friends except Gobi. No one liked him. Gobi felt upset. Also, Pangu put him to replace Afuchi in another world where he needed to work hard to get food. He would starve if he did not. Gobi hadn’t eaten nor slept for hundreds of days and millions of hours. He regretted and wanted to say sorry to Afuchi and everyone. Gobi went back to his world but… all competitors had disappeared. His four brothers had become four big deserts. Human beings had invaded their all land for residence. Gobi became the fifth desert. Thousands of Mongolians were living there. Gobi now realized his fault had brought much suffering to others. He admitted his mistakes to Pangu. The sky opened! It’s Pangu! He said, “I am pleased with your apology, so I won’t destroy you. However, to punish you, I will take away most plants Afuchi had planted here. I will only leave 400 kinds plants for you. Your wind strength will be down to 85 miles per hour too so that you can’t be boastful again! You can feel relieved now because Afuchi has forgotten everything. Live well.” Gobi cried and his tear became the first rain drop in Gobi Desert… New Tales of the Gobi Desert SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Jubilee Primary School, Ma Xue Lin Jerry, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, was a kingdom named Gobi City. It was the biggest, richest and popular city of all. But on day, an evil army named “the unknown” attacked the city! The king and queen sent millions of men and thousands of horses to defend Gobi City. OAs soon as King Henry VIII of England heard the news, he sent the five legendary knights to fight the evil army. The five legendary knights took five months to get to Gobi City, the five never ate anything, never drank anything, never said anything, just rode to Gobi City; they didn’t even rest! By the time they got there, the evil army spread plague all over the city, it was terrible, the evil army was winning! However, the knights had a cure that can stop the plague from spreading all over the city. The evil army started to take over the city, starting at Dakuta (now is Mongolia) to Hong Kong, but the rest of the world belongs to the people who fight the evil army, and so each countries sends a group of knights to fight the evil army, so the evil army can’t fight any other places. The war continued for ten years, children became teen-ages, teen-ages became adults, adults became elderly, and elderly became dead. However, the knights from the other countries never got older, but in fact stronger, more powerful and bigger. Sadly, the evil army had the same effect too! But faster, so the humans were losing the battle, but they still had hope. “You might have won the battle, but you haven’t won the war!” The king said in his germen accent, trying to cheer his army up. The army thought it made sense, so they believed the king and won the war! However, when the last soldier died, a curse was spelled named “Desertification”. It made Gobi City become a desert. Nowadays, the desert is still there, named Gobi Desert. The Adventure in the Gobi Desert St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Annalise Chung Wing, Fiction: Group 2

laire attempted to zip up her suitcase. Bryony, always the sporty one, went over to help her friend. “Claire, it’s just a trip to the historical site in the Gobi Desert! Zip!” and Claire’s suitcase closed. C“I know! But I bet I’ll be sweating very much, so I need to pack more clothes and shampoo…” Claire babbled. Violet and Bryony shook their heads. On the plane to southern Mongolia, the girls read a guidebook about the Gobi Desert “The Gobi Desert is a giant desert that covers parts of northern and north-western China and southern Mongolia. It is the fifth largest desert in the world and its area is 1,300,000 km2!” Bryony recited. “So, we’re searching for dinosaur eggs in 1,300,000km2?!” Claire worried. Violet responded “No! There’s a site where archeologists have found clues about the dinosaur eggs. Roy Chapman found the first dinosaur eggs and archeologists want to find more.” The plane landed and the girls boarded a jeep that their university had organized for them. The driver brought them to the hotel before going to the site. “Be sure to bring a backpack with water and clothes to change. Pack light!” the jeep sped off. “Be back in an hour!” Inside the room, Claire wanted to explore the luxurious hotel so she went outside. When she opened the door, she saw a piece of paper fell to the ground. She pulled it out and read it: “Beware the Gobi Desert.” Claire shivered with fright, what could this mean? She quickly went back to tell her friends about the note. Bryony was speechless, the only person who was calm was Violet. “Don’t over-react, pack more water and some torches, Claire, just in case.” Violet said. “Call the site manager about the note, Bryony, and ask him what we should do.” Violet said, calming her friends’ nerves. They did as Violet said and soon went down to the jeep to set off to the site. “I received your message about the note.” Brian, the site manager said. “Just be careful in the desert, it is a desert after all. But for now, I believe you should take notes to do your reports, no?” The sun was so strong that the girls were sweating from head to toe. Claire kept complaining while the others studied the site and took notes. Claire retrieved a fan and started cooling herself and her friends. Bryony and Violet whined a thank you and took a drink from their bottles. They continued to dig. “Thud!” something…different jarred against her shovel. “Hey! I think I found something!” Violet gently scraped sand away from what appeared to be dinosaur eggs. Brian carefully wrapped the eggs. “Take one, show them to your professor!” Brian gave them an egg, his smile was from ear to ear. Night soon came. The girls’ jeep arrived to pick them up. Two hours passed. “Mr. Driver, when are we reaching the hotel?” Bryony asked politely. The driver turned around and shot a sly look at them. “We’re here!” the driver snickered. Claire remembered the note and she showed it to Violet and Bryony. They understood immediately. They were sure that this fake driver was from a gang of thieves trying to steal the egg they found just now. They frantically tried to escape, Bryony kicked the jeep’s door but it wouldn’t budge. “Yes, I know! But they’re very valuable and from a T-rex!” the driver, who was one of the thieves, explained on the phone. “We’ll be rich once we sell them!” Moments later, the girls were thrown to the sand, bound and gagged. They were scared. The girls squirmed against the ropes. “We don’t have the eggs. It’s with the site manager and the others!” Violet lied. “Oh, really? Open their bags!” The thief said. The thieves thoroughly searched the girls’ bags. They found a chest and used tools to open it. “Oh no!” Claire thought. The egg was protected very well. The thieves cannot get away with this! Violet thought angrily. “No!” Bryony cried. “How can you steal it? It belongs in a museum to be studied!” she yelled. Bryony was beyond disgusted that they were doing this. Whilst the thieves were occupied, Bryony untied the ropes. The thieves were sloppy with the knots. Once Bryony freed herself, she went to help her friends. They took the bags and picked up the chest. Then they took out the torches and ran. Unfortunately, the thieves started chasing them. The girls ran like crazy until the thieves were out of sight. “Now we’re lost, with no food, and it’s really cold at night in deserts.” Violet groaned. “There must be shelter here. We just have to find them.” Bryony said, she started looking for caves or shelter. Just as the girls were about to give up Claire shouted, “There! A cave!” The group stayed in the cave for the night. “I’m sure we’ll find the others!” Bryony said, shivering in the cold. “It’s pitch black here. Turn on the torches.” Claire searched for some food she saved at lunch. “Yes! Crackers, anyone?” Claire said triumphantly. She gave out two crackers each to her friends. All the girls were dead tired and worried for their safety. Nobody had much appetite for food. Violet was out like a light with a cracker in her mouth. Both Bryony and Claire shared a slight smile before they too curled up in sleep. “Time to wake up!” Bryony shouted at morning. They each had two more crackers and started finding their way out. They were about to give up when they saw their salvation! Brian approached with some camels. The girls were overjoyed to see him. They quickly rode back to civilization. The girls soon took a flight back to Massachusetts. Back in Harvard, the girls wrote reports and presented their adventure to the class. Their classmates were spellbound with their story of the Gobi Desert. It was a great adventure, almost as good as their precious friendship! A Lesson Learnt St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Shradha Cheung, Fiction: Group 2

e sat there. He sat there for so long he couldn’t keep track of time anymore. He was once a man with great power and wealth. He was very well known and was regularly on the cover of Forbes-The 100 Richest People. Edward Williams was his name. It usually was said with great respect. Usually. Occasionally it would be said with sorrow. HAlthough he was a man of many talents, he was rather arrogant, penny-pinching and greedy. He never helped anyone; he only cared about himself and his money. Just a short while ago he had everything: money, cars, mansions, a trophy wife. Now he had nothing, nothing at all. He was surrounded by sand, miles and miles of sand. The only living things he could see were the camels walking past. The only other things around him were not alive, just a couple twigs and stones here and there. He looked left and right and cried for help, but no one replied. At this point, the hot sun was beating down on his neck. It was midday. He yearned for a drink of water, even just a sip. He looked all around him. Not a single drop in sight. He decided he needed to get up and start searching if he wanted to survive. He dragged himself to his feet and started walking. For him, this was quite a challenge. He was severely dehydrated. In the distance he saw a cactus and he tried to walk a bit faster. He knew cacti were full of water. He pierced the cactus with a medium- sized, sharp stone nearby. Litres and litres of water spilled out. It was an oasis in disguise. He thirstily cupped his hands, scooped some water and drank it. He had never been so thankful for the simplest of things that many poor people don’t have. He was about to put the stone down; until he saw something scratched in small letters on the back. “Well done, well done, you have finished your first quest. Complete all the quests and you will see that everything is not always what it seem. You are in the Gobi Desert, and you will be until you learn a lesson.” -G ‘G?’ wondered Edward “Who could ‘G’ be? What ‘quest’ am I on?”

* * *

Nightfall came and soon the temperature fell. Edward watched the sun set and the moon rise. He started freezing once the moon had fully risen. Who knew it would get this cold in a desert. All he had was a plain old shirt and a pair of drab pants. He had no warning that he would be teleported to an endless desert. No time to even get a jacket off his hanger. Oh how he wished he had his jacket. He started walking again as he thought his ‘quest’ might require it. It felt like hours for him, but in actuality it was only a couple of minutes.

* * *

Edward saw a pelt, a camel’s pelt. ‘Oh thank God!’ he exclaimed. Edward draped the pelt over him and wore it as a shawl. Warmth quickly spread through his body. He was about to walk away but he saw another stone next to where the camel’s pelt was. Edward picked up the stone and read what was on the back. “You have just learnt your second quest, you have one more to learn” -G

* * *

The night lasted long. The hardest part was sleeping on the cold sand. “You still have more one quest…” He felt the words echo in his head. Edward watched the sun rise and thought, “Okay, it’s morning. It’s my second day here. If you want to get out soon, you have to find out what your last ‘quest’ is.” His stomach rumbled in hunger. If he was at his mansion, he’d be having a five star meal with breakfast delicacies from all around the world. Instead, all he had was some stale cactus stems. They were rather sweet. In fact too sweet for his taste, but it was all he had. He got up and started walking once again in search for his last ‘quest’. He searched endlessly but there was nothing in sight. Not a rock. Not a camel. Nothing. He cried for a clue, some help, anything at this point. There was no reply. ‘What is my last quest? Please tell me!’ I’ll do anything! I’ve learnt to be nicer; I’ve learnt that many people don’t have basic necessities such as food, water or shelter.’ There was still no reply. He started weeping bitterly and made a vow to himself that if he made it out alive, he would be nicer to people and do more charity work. Falling asleep was no trouble for him that night as he was exhausted from walking and searching that day. The next morning, he woke up in his bed in his mansion, next to his wife. “It must have all just been a bad dream!” He thought to himself. He got up from his bed and saw a stone covered in a bit of sand. He gave a perplexed look. ‘What could a stone be doing here?’ Edward said. He picked it up about to throw it back into his garden when, once again, he saw something written on the back “I see you’ve completed your last quest. Don’t forget your vow.” -G ‘I guess it just wasn’t a dream!’ Edward said. He quickly called Unicef and donated one million dollars to charity. Edward looked back at the stone and thought aloud to himself, “I wonder who G is? I guess that’ll remain a mystery.” Multiple lives St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Kimmie Cudia, Fiction: Group 2

sad, lonely girl who nobody believes. That’s all I am. Here’s how I even ended up alone in the Gobi Desert. This is what happened to me when I was still a six-year-old: Every night, just when I’m about to fall asleep, I would see sudden sparks around me.A They’d grow and grow until they eventually turned into ‘things’. You may not believe this, but these ‘things’ were actually goblins, fairies, etc. Maybe you call them ‘fantasy creatures’. Whenever I’d tell someone, they’d laugh at me and say things like ‘you’re imagining things’ or ‘you’re becoming crazy’. No one believed me… not even my family or my closest friends. Now, this part is sort of like what happened to the two kids in the story Hansel and Gretel. I knew my folks thought I was mad, but I never knew they disliked me… and that was all because they thought I was nuts. So one day, we went for a walk. We lived in the Gobi Desert, by the way. We kept walking and walking, but we finally stopped after around 30 minutes. “Why did we stop?” I asked. Clearly, everyone else was trying to think of an excuse, and there was a moment of silence. “Because…” Mom struggled. “Because… I’m thirsty, Sofiya. Let’s go back.” From there, my whole family ran quickly, and I couldn’t catch up. They had abandoned me. So here I am now, eleven years older than when everyone left me. Most seventeen-year-old girls care more about fashion or whatever, but I care more about surviving for as long as I can. I no longer see them, the ‘fantasy creatures’ that I told you about before. But the only reason I had survived for so long was because they had helped me. Without them, I wouldn’t even be here anymore. I want to thank them, but as I said earlier, I don’t see them anymore. With the sun beating down on my back, I start a desperate search for food and water. At last, I find some wild onions and a large desert spoon plant. I gladly eat the wild onions and drink the sap from the desert spoon. Due to the recent sandstorm a few hours back, my eyes are still stinging. Despite that, I can still see, though not very clearly. I cautiously make my way back to my half-buried house. As I try to clear my house up, I notice the sky getting darker and darker. By the time I’m finished getting most of the sand off the yurt, I notice a large object tucked under a pile of rocks. I can’t really make out what it is, so I leave it alone and go to bed. As I wake up the next morning, I remember what had happened last night. I walk to the pile of rocks and slowly uncover it, and discover that it’s… a cluster of dinosaur eggs! I’m instantly hit with a wave of shock that quickly turns into sheer excitement. I’m paralyzed, unable to think or move. I suddenly snap out of it when I notice the sand under my feet begin to sweep away. “SANDSTORM!” I try to return to my yurt, but I can’t even see it. In a panic, I tie a piece of cloth that had been in my pocket and cover my airways as best as I can. I fearfully adjust my sand goggles and brace myself. The danger of suffocation is all I can think about. I’ve survived many sandstorms, but will I survive this one? I try not to think negatively, but the howling wind interrupts my thoughts. “How dare you ignore us for so many years, Sofiya!” it seems to say. “Wha… What are you talking about?” I manage to whisper back. No reply. I begin to ignore it and look away, still focusing on protecting myself. The sandstorm mysteriously ends. I look around for a while, and notice I can’t see my house anywhere. I race through the sea of sand, trying to find my home. I start to remember everything I had lost: Everything. There’s nothing really exciting to see. I’m walking on a blanket of sand, sprinkled with animals and plants. I have to start all over again. A new day; a new life, in the same old Gobi Desert. Story of the Gobi Desert St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Daryl Rene Enerlan, Fiction: Group 2

here was a merchant from Mongolia who decided to travel to China to bring some spices and foods to his friend. But then, there was the Gobi Desert between the two places, so he prepared some stuff that can last for his travel and though in his calculation his travel won’t be long if he rode the boat to cross the rivers. But unfortunately, he missed Tthe boat, and what’s worse is that the next sail is two days after. He checked his map and thought of using the Silk Road to pass through the Gobi Dessert. But then, he remembered what he over- heard that some merchants would steal others good. So he decided on going to another route and thought that it was a short cut. He started to travel using another route. On the edge of the Gobi Desert he saw some merchants who were passing by with their cargos headed to the Silk Road but he wasn’t bothered and just ignored it. He continued travelling using another route, through the Gobi Desert. He never knew about the extreme weather and the storm. While he was travelling, he found out what an extremely hot weather it was in the day time and how cold it was during the night, so he started to struggle in passing through the Gobi Desert. After a few days without much food and water left, the situation became worse and he became weak. Luckily he saw some tents nearby and he started to walk even though he was at the verge of fainting. When he reached them and tried to ask for some water, all of a sudden, he collapsed. After a few minutes later, he woke up feeling confused and asked about what happened to him. A man named Nomad told him that he fainted because of exhaustion and lack of food and water. After a few hours, the merchant felt much better thanks to Nomad and left saying goodbye. By then, he checked the map and he realized that he travelled halfway in his journey and still had a long way ahead. Along his way he saw some people with their camels and seemed like they were getting ready for something. He then noticed the huge dust storm ahead which made him ask the people for a shelter. Later the dust storm was over and he continued with his journey. In the distance, he saw some mountains and green grass. The moment he reach closer, he saw people on a mountain excavating lots of rocks, so he went there to check it out. As soon as he got closer, he started to see pieces of gold and copper on the ground and immediately realized that the place was a mine ground which is very close to his destination. After a while of walking, he saw the border gate of China. So he quickly ran to the gate so that he can be permitted to go through the border. But then, at the last minute he realized that his bag containing his ID and passport was lost during the dust storm. Then he remembered that his friend works as an immigration officer, so the merchant got through with the help of his friend. The merchant told his friend about all his journey, the struggle and the misery he had and learnt that it is better to get more information about everything before you go. An exciting day in the life of an Arhorchin boy St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Andrik Fernandes, Fiction: Group 2

ou may wake up in the morning, look at the sky and think it’s going to be an ordinary day, but it could turn out to be the most exciting day in your life. Let me illustrate by telling you a story about myself. My name is Mergen Batukhan and my family belongs to the tribe of Arhorchin MongolY herdsmen roaming the steppes of Inner Mongolia in the Gobi desert. We keep moving with our possessions on our horses and camels, to keep our sheep fed and watered. When we find fresh pastures, we set up our yurts, and that is our new home for a couple of weeks or months, till the grass and shrubs run out. Nomadic life can be very tough. Our food consists mostly of meat and milk and we often eat wild plants and herbs and sometimes even these are scarce. Still, we are very good at finding food for our family and cattle, and we know where the best grazing lands are to be found. So one day in May, when the sun was especially strong that it hurt to look up at the sky, my brother Azbek and I were lying in the shadiest spot we could find, while herding our sheep a few kilometers from our yurt. We were talking about the adventures we would like to have when we were men, and that was when we heard a noise in the distance. We were a few hundred metres away from the path taken by caravans passing the Silk Road with spices, fabrics and expensive goods on the way to the cities of China, where they would try to get the best price for their merchandise. We started running towards the path and soon the caravan was upon us and it was led by merchants dressed in fine clothes - they even wore some jewels in their turbans and around their necks. What finery! They were talking in a foreign language we couldn’t understand, and when they saw us they got down from their camels, shouting and gesticulating animatedly. On seeing them, our first impulse was to turn and run, but since they looked more like they wanted assistance from us, we tried to understand what they were trying to tell us. They were about fifteen people, women and children included. They were well attired, but dusty and looked like they were used to a comfortable life. Two of their men who probably were their leaders, were trying to communicate with us through sounds and gestures. It turned out they wanted to find a good grazing spot for their camels, which were now standing tiredly with their heads drooping down and looking weary. The family of merchants had food for themselves, but no fodder for the camels, and would not be able to cover the distance towards their destination if their animals were not fed soon. Now as experienced herdsmen roaming the Gobi desert with our family and tribe all our lives, we knew where the best grazing places in the area were located. Azbek and I quickly conferred between ourselves about whether it was okay to share this information with these strangers. Of course, we wanted to help but we did not want our own flock to be at a disadvantage, they needed to graze too. We assumed that these merchants would feed their animals and take some grass and shrubs with them as fodder for their animals, and go on their way. This would not impact our herd too much, and so we decided to help. We led the men to where our sheep were grazing, and they quickly began cutting out blades of grass and shrubs to take back to the camels who were very tired. After the animals had eaten a little, they even led some of the camels back to the pastures to feed themselves completely, so that they would be well equipped for the onward journey. They also cut out some grass and shrubs to take back with them for the way. While all this was happening, we became very friendly with all the members of the caravan. They brought out some of their food to share with us and it tasted strange but delicious. There were tasty meats, cheeses and sweets that we had never tasted before. This was the best adventure that we had experienced in a long, long time. When the caravan was ready to move on, the merchants tried to persuade us to go with them. By now we had become pretty adept in communicating with gestures and exaggerated expressions. It was a tempting thought to go with them to find the adventures we were dreaming about, before the caravan stopped by. But then I thought of my parents and family - they would be distraught if we just vanished into thin air and I knew I too, would miss them forever, with no chance of finding them again in the vastness of the Gobi desert. When we shook our head vigorously and said we could not go with them, the women plied us with food to take back with us to our family and the merchants gave us a fine necklace with colourful stones as a gift. How happy my mother would be when she saw that! As we watched the caravan fading into the distance and waved good bye, we knew it was time for us to collect our sheep and head back to our yurt. What a wonderful day we had had in the company of these strange and exotic people! While we may not have visited the lands that they had seen, interacting with them, made it seem like we had been to those faraway countries ourselves. So, believe me when I tell you, you may wake up one morning on a normal day, and have the most exciting adventure of your life. Shortlisted

A Hole in his Heart St. Margaret’s Co-Educational English Secondary and Primary School, Jess Yung, 11

he moon, a white eye, watched the desert below. The sky, a black velvet fabric was emblazoned with millions of shimmering lights. The God, Tengri, had swept the land with cold, bone-chilling winds. They lifted up the small rocks into an eternal dance, jumping from one sandy hill to another. The footsteps of jerboas could be heard, their scurrying Tlike pins dropping. The clumps of saxaul trees swayed, their branches entwined together. Nothing else moved. All except for one shadow. In the middle of one certain clump of saxauls, a lonely figure was stuck. His long fingers wrapped around the thorny branches, his hair scraggly and untamed. Torn, faded, rags served as clothing, covering his frail body. He was stuck, the trees clinging onto him preventing his release. With each movement, he got even more entangled instead of actually breaking free. Do not pity him reader, for his suffering will soon end. The man was about 70 years old. He, born in the desert, had adapted to the harsh outdoor life. However, now his body was weakened and wrinkled. He cursed himself for being in this mess in the first place, for being punished because of his foolish mistake. Now reader, do you know what mistake he made? He made the mistake of making his life centered around money. He made the mistake of becoming rich, selfish, greedy, and stingy. He even made the mistake of ignoring his large family in need of his love. But most of all, he made the mistake of selling one of his sons as a slave. He thought, that since he had 5 wives and 14 sons, there was no harm in selling one little boy. That day was etched into his mind - he remembered it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. “Pa!” His 6-year old son grasped his robe, unwilling to let go. “Pa! Please! Don’t make me go!” He stared coldly into the eyes of his son. So innocent, so sweet. “You are no son of mine.” He roughly tugged his son’s small hand from his robe. “Pa! No, I am your son! I am your son!” Tears were streaming down the little boy’s face. Ignoring his son, he turned back to the slave master. “Take the boy, he is yours now.” The slave master smiled slyly at him. “Yes, yes. Very well, 14 pieces of silver for you.” The slave master dropped a small pouch of money into his hands. “Pa.. Please don’t..” His son’s voice cracked, his eyes glassy. Paying no attention whatsoever, the man gestured for the slave master to take his offspring away. The boy screamed, his arms flailing as he was dragged onto a cart. “Pa! Pa! PA!” His son sobbed, as the cart pulled away. Even when his boy was gone, his pleas hung like smoke in the air. A few months later, he received news that his son died from exhaustion and fever. Only then did he realize the gaping hole in his heart. But he did not want to acknowledge that. So he ran away. He took his riches and cattle with him on a long journey. He thought that he could run away from his mistake. But, the truth is, no one can run away from mistakes. On one leg of the journey, a sandstorm, sent by the gods, crossed paths with them. It spun and blew, and took away everything he had. His riches were buried deep under the sand, his cattle dead. And his heart, broken. But still, he did not acknowledge his wrongdoing. He continued on his journey. He walked and walked, but soon grew tired. So he lay his head down to sleep. A strong wind blew, and the man screwed his eyes shut. He felt like he was being lifted off from the ground. Not for a second did he open his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he was inside a golden palace, with huge people. They were not made of flesh and bone, but of sand. All of them were dressed richly, and they talked to him saying, “Acknowledge your wrongs and you will be forgiven. But for now, you will be imprisoned.” They brushed their hands over his face, and the man was surrounded by saxaul trees, closing him in. He didn’t grow hungry or thirsty. It seemed that the gods gave him a blessing of being able to survive without food or water. But he did not repent his wrongs. And he didn’t accept them for the next 55 years. Now, the sky had become lighter, and the moon came down. Dawn was coming. Somewhere in the distance, a joyful whistling was heard. The man wished that he was free, to see life outside before he died. Then a hand stuck itself through the branches of the saxauls. Then another hand stuck itself through. They pulled the branches apart, and the man saw a face he hadn’t seen for years. His 6-year old son he had sold long ago. “Pa!” His son pulled him up and smiled at him. “I’ve come to take you home, Pa!” “But,” The man’s voice was cracked and hoarse, “You’re dead.” His son didn’t answer. “Come with me Pa.” The boy gently pulled his father out of the saxaul trees that kept him imprisoned. “I’m sorry son,” The man croaked, “I shouldn’t have sold you. Not all things are bought with money.” His son grinned, and held his daddy’s hand. “I’m glad you said that Pa,” His son giggled, “I’m taking you home now.” The man broke out in a smile and nodded. The two of them ran, across the sand and sprinted up into the air, their laughs like little silver bells. Now, it was the sun that watched as the saxaul trees bent away, revealing a frail man in his 70’s, lifeless and curled tightly into a ball, with a smile on his face for the first time in 55 years. An Incredible Experience St. Paul’s Co-educational College Primary School, Hilary Tang, Fiction: Group 2

ne day, I was getting ready for bed. I put on my pajamas and switched off the lights. I soon fell asleep. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I groaned and reluctantly got up to answer it. Outside, a strange little man said in a high and squeaky voice, “Lucky one, you have a free ticket to the Gobi Desert! The plane leaves at twelve noon. Do not be late!” And he Oslammed the door in my face. The next morning at about ten, I started packing my bags. When I finished, I hopped on a taxi and headed for the airport. However, despite the excitement, I had a strange feeling, the kind you get when you think something is wrong, but I had no time to think about it. I had already arrived. The taxi screeched to a halt, and I headed towards my flight. I boarded the plane and soon it took off. Suddenly, the strange feeling came to me again. Even though I am no stranger to flying, I began to feel uneasy. But I soon fell asleep because I was too tired. Suddenly, there was a loud bang which woke me up. There were cracks on the floor. I watched in horror as the plane began splitting in two. Thinking fast, I unbuckled my seatbelt and put on my life jacket. Unfortunately, I was too late. “Help!” I screamed as I fell down and down and down. “Aaaaah! Save me!” I yelled until I hit the sand. I was in the middle of the Gobi Desert with nothing more than a pack of tissues. I lay there, wondering if I was still alive. My left arm and right leg were broken. The pain was excruciating. I tried to get up but failed. I decided to roll instead. I rolled around for what like seemed forever. Suddenly, I spotted some mosquitoes. I knew that water was not far. I kept rolling and rolling until...I felt something wet and heard a splashing sound. There was a waterfall right in front of my eyes. I began drinking immediately. I bathed in the water to clean my wounds. How strange it may seem, I didn’t feel any pain. I was cured! I saw something shiny behind the waterfall! Although I knew that the force of the water crashing down would be incredible, I was very curious. I walked to the edge of the waterfall, trying to think of a way to slip in. I remembered in one of the movies a person went in a secret room by pushing one of the rocks. I remembered a portal somehow opened up. So, I began pushing rocks. When I was about to give up, a portal opened in the waterfall, and I was sucked in. “Aaaaah!!!” I screamed again. The portal brought me to an oasis. I wasn’t wet despite the fact that I had just fell through a waterfall. “Aaaaah!” I screamed bolt upright in bed. “Whew! What a crazy dream!” I said to myself. The birds were singing, and the weather was beautiful. “Oops, I almost forgot… I need to catch my plane!” New Tale of the Gobi Desert St. Paul’s Co-educational College Primary School, Clare Wong, Fiction: Group 2

lass, please open the safety page on your panels. We are now going to go through the “ safety procedures of a radiation drill…” Hannah wasn’t listening to the shrill voice of her civic studies teacher. As the monotone voice floated past, she looked through the perspex glass at the golden dunes Cand shrubs that used to be the Crescent Lake Oasis. It certainly didn’t look like an oasis, and hadn’t looked like one for 300 years… though she knew they had moved to the Gobi Desert for safety. As the teacher’s voice droned on and on, Hannah began to daydream. She often imagined what it would be like to walk outside and touch the golden earth. What would it feel like? As it was forbidden, she would never know. No one she knew had ever been outside GD-125 since the Disaster. Living inside their Cyber-Cities, the children were not even allowed to go near the vents that filtered the air as they could be toxic. And then she saw it… “Hannah! Are you listening?” her teacher’s voice lashed at her. “Radiation leaks are very dangerous. LOOK AT YOUR PANEL!” After the lesson, collecting her favourite snack –the nutritionally balanced and artificially flavoured Energy Boost-from the machine, Hannah sat down to think about what she had seen. Had she imagined it? Was it real? Should she tell her friends? She was sure that she had seen something out there, but everyone knew that no living creatures had survived. The Disaster had killed thousands of people and destroyed the eco-system. The Government had attempted to preserve life but had failed miserably. The Cyber Cities, which had originally been built to house the expanding population, became the only livable places on the planet. Suddenly, Chloe, Justin and Ming arrived at the nutrition pod. Hannah looked preoccupied. “What’s up with you?” enquired Ming. Hannah observed her friends cautiously. “I think I saw something moving outside during the Civic Studies class today.” She was met with a stunned silence. “So you were hallucinating from boredom.” Justin finally said sarcastically. “If I had to listen to Miss Chan’s voice for two hours, I’d start imagining things too!” Her friends started laughing, but soon stopped after one look at Hannah’s disturbed, crestfallen face. “You really think you saw something, don’t you?” Chloe asked hesitantly. “Look. I can’t be a hundred percent sure. I know they say that nothing survived, but what if they’re wrong?” Hannah answered. “But Hannah, no one has ever seen anything moving out there! David said skeptically. “It’s probably just your imagination.” Chloe considered the situation. “Why don’t we tell Miss Chan that we want to broadcast a civic service announcement? We can tell her that we want to work on it during lunch. If there’s anything out there, we’ll see it.” At lunchtime, they found themselves staring expectantly out of the window at the sandy dunes outside. Feeling foolish, Hannah watched anxiously for what seemed like ages, when suddenly her heart leapt… Could it be? There was an awkward amazed silence. “I’m going out there.” Hannah exclaimed suddenly. “No. We have to tell someone. A teacher or a parent.” Ming implored. They won’t believe us.” Hannah said forcefully. “I’m tired of being so cooped up in here. Just look out there. They must be wrong. How will we ever know if somebody doesn’t try?” “Justin, your father is a Cyber engineer. Is there some way we can get into the tunnels and out?” asked Hannah. Feeling excited by the unknown for the first time, Justin thought carefully. “I can get my father’s electronic access tag. Meet me by the school gates tomorrow. We should be able to do it if we leave by six. I’m going with you.” The next day, Hannah and Justin trudged silently and anxiously through the tunnels under their school, followed by their friends. As they reached the nearest vent, which would take them outside under the civic classroom, they paused. “Are you sure you want to do this? You could die out there…” Ming pleaded. Even though her heart was beating wildly, Hannah was determined. Justin wouldn’t be dissuaded either. Suddenly, the city’s warning sirens wailed. Their movements had set off the alarms… It would be minutes, even seconds before they were caught. With no time to lose, Hannah and Justin moved quickly. Swiping the card, they dashed through the filter vents and found themselves spiraling down a tube, battered and buffeted by the air pressure which blew them down a tunnel until they landed with a painful thud. Hannah reached out to steady herself and found her fingers sliding through the dry, gritty grains of sand. Outside. They were actually outside! To their immense surprise, despite a tingling sensation, they could breathe normally. They took deep, gulping breaths and were speechless with amazement and delight. For what seemed like ages, they sat silently, taking in the heat on their skin and the textures around them. Then, they started to search… In GD-125, Ming and Chloe were being interrogated by the red-faced Commander of Cyber Security. “DO YOU understand the seriousness of what you have done It can ONLY be called a CRIME This is the MOST OUTRAGEOUS breach of security that has EVER occurred in the HISTORY of this city HOW could you have allowed your friends to risk their lives and THE WHOLE CITY by OPENING the vents this DISGRACEFUL and IRRESPONSIBLE conduct shows the COMPLETE FAILURE of our Civic Education Module WHO else was involved in this? I expect FULL DISCL……” the children turned to see what had suddenly silenced him. He was dumbfounded, amazed, speechless and stunned. A small dot on the security cameras grew larger and larger as they all peered at it. They gaped and gasped. The Commander could barely believe his eyes… Hannah and Justin were walking back alive and well, and by their side the unbelievable sight of a living, breathing, scampering, four-foot high…wild horse. The Magical Journey Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, Chan Hoi Tung Vivian, Fiction: Group 2

o you think a 13 year old boy can be an archaeologist? Yes, he can. Jake is a genius. Jake works at Harbour University and does research about dinosaurs in China. When he was doing research one day, the computer next to him started beeping. That meant that there was a possibility of finding dinosaur fossils. A gust of happiness rose Dup inside Jake and he decided to go hunting. He packed his gadgets and headed for the helicopter. Once he landed safely, he looked around and found that he was near the edge of the Gobi Desert. He decided to go farther into the Gobi and search for materials to build a gher. There weren’t too many trees or bushes in the Gobi but he tried to find as much wood as he could. He also needed some cloth for the gher. Jake walked for a while and found a herd of camels all alone, stranded in the desert. Some of the camels were carrying bags. Jake looked inside the bags and found some cloth and food! He gathered them all together and rode the camel in front, leading the other camels to follow them to a suitable place to build his gher. He was going farther and farther into the Gobi. Dusk was falling and Jake was exhausted. Suddenly, he saw something glinting in the moonlight! He walked closer and saw an oasis, called Crescent Lake. Jake decided to stay there for the night. He used the materials he found to build a magnificent gher. He lay down and prepared to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a man and a woman’s voice. They were talking in a language that Jake couldn’t understand. He wondered how he could find out what they were talking about. Did it involve him? Jake thought for a while and… Got it! He took out his translator which had a tiny microphone attached to it and placed it next to the wall of the gher. The translator showed the words on its screen. To his surprise, it turned out that they were also talking about finding dinosaur fossils. Jake blurted out “Can I join you?” There was silence. The man’s voice rang out. “Who are you?” Jake replied. “My name is Jake and I am here to search for dinosaur fossils. I think you were talking about the same topic. Can I join you?” The man said with his arms folded. “What have you got?” Jake replied. “I have a shovel, some gadgets that can find dinosaur fossils...” The man chuckled. “Well, we already know where they are. We are going there at sunrise. Feel free to join us.” “Yes!”Jake whispered to himself. Once the sun rose, they set off on their trip. They walked for mile after mile. Finally, they arrived at their destination. Jake and the other people started digging with the spades they had brought. They dug for half an hour. Nothing. They dug for one hour. Still nothing. All of them started to wonder if this was the right spot. The leader called out. “Keep going! We can do it!” They followed his orders. But after one more hour of digging, they decided to give up. Jake shouted. “You took me out here for two hours and we found nothing! You’re a liar!” Jake went one way and the others went the other way. He went towards his gher but to his surprise, it had disappeared! There were only some magic tools left. He gathered them up, afraid that they would get stolen. He could only wander off aimlessly. After three days, Jake ran out of food and water and felt exhausted. He started to see mirages. Slowly, he crawled to the mirage of the pond. After he crawled there, he fainted. When he came back to his senses, he found that a little fairy had saved him. He asked. “Who are you?” She replied. “My name is Priscilla. I come from The Fairy Kingdom. Can I help you in any way?” “I would like to get my gadgets, computer, food and water back please. I would also like a four- wheel motor in exchange for my camels.” Jake said. The fairy did as she was told. “POOF!”All his things appeared out of nowhere. “Thank you!” Jake exclaimed. They became best friends. Priscilla promised to be there whenever Jake was in trouble. “Just take this magic wand out and say “ABRACADABRA! I will be there immediately.” She told Jake. They said farewell and Jake continued on his journey. “Beep Beep Beep…” His Danger Detector would alert whenever danger was within 500 metres! Jake had to leave immediately! He got on his four-wheel motor and sped in the direction of hidden dinosaur fossils, afraid that they would get destroyed. But, the more he tried to escape from the “Beep Beep” noises, the louder they got. At last, they met. ‘They’ were a bunch of bandits and Jake! He knew that he was in grave danger. All of a sudden, he remembered Priscilla the fairy. He got out his magic wand and said “ABRACADABRA!” Priscilla appeared. She summoned a sand dragon up! The sand dragon, Jake and Priscilla fought against the bandits. Finally, they won. “I have to get on with my real mission now, finding dinosaur fossils. Goodbye!” He said with tears in his eyes. Once Priscilla had gone, Jake checked his computer. Surprisingly, he found that the dinosaur fossils were right underneath him! He got up and started to dig. In no time at all, he discovered the dinosaur fossils. He thought, “That was the reason why the bandits were here.” Finally, Jake dug out the whole dinosaur, amazingly, that was a Triceratops fossil. After a long way back, he returned to where his helicopter was parked and safely returned to his university. Jake got an award after he arrived at his university for finding the dinosaur fossils. But, he never told anyone about Priscilla the fairy, the sand dragon or the Crash Landing Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, Cheng Tsz Yin Ryan, Fiction: Group 2

oy is a forty-one year old guy. Today he was on his way to Russia for a holiday. Suddenly, the plane had an accident. It crashed into the middle of the desert. Roy was the only survivor. He saw a sign which meant this desert is the Gobi. He was scared and started his adventure to find his way out of the Gobi. He had three Rbottles of water, some food and some other things. He knew that the trip might be hard but it was the only way to get out.However, he would have lots of trouble. Would he see snowleopards, camels or other animals? Could he escape this harsh desert? On the first day, Roy walked along some small hills. After two hours, he was tired and he went into a cave where it was cool to take a rest. Suddenly, something hit Roy. He looked around but it was too dark. Then, he went out of the cave and found it was a camel. He rode on it for the journey. The next day, it was the worst day of Roy’s life. First, when they went up the mountain, a snow leopard came out and chased them. The camel ran as fast as it could. It ran for an hour to get away. At that time, he saw an oasis. He was very happy and stayed there for the rest of the day. At night, Roy found out that he only had a little food to eat and a little water left. Although the oasis had some water, he might not be able to carry enough for the rest of journey. But it was better than nothing. The third day, he walked to a hill and saw a plane fly past. Roy shouted loudly. The pilots on the plane saw him and told him to go north until he sees a tall gold tower. The pilots promised that they would be back to pick him up, later. Roy smiled and followed their orders. Roy walked and walked for a long time but he couldn’t see the tower so he started to lose hope. He saw a tent with sheep and camels around it. He was happy and ran very quickly towards the tent. When he got there, some Mongolians let him and his camel stay there.He thanked the Mongolians.The Mongolians said that they had to find gold or dinosaur eggs every day. They also ate sheep and drank their milk. When Roy heard that, he said “You guys have such a terrible life. Can we not eat something more delicious?” The Mongolians replied “No, we can’t.” Then they told Roy that they were too poor because they were only farmers. Roy felt very angry. He stomped around the tent for the whole day. After that, he knew it was useless. If he wanted to live for any longer, he needed food and water. Therefore he stayed there for two days and tried to find water and food for the rest of the trip. When he left, he thanked the Mongolians for their kind hospitality. The Mongolians said goodbye to Roy. Later, the sun shone very brightly. It was very hot. He needed to find a shelter to take a rest but there wasn’t any trees at all. At this moment, Roy started to cry. He felt very upset and hopeless. Suddenly he saw a tree in the distance. He was very happy and sprinted towards it. He was happy because he could cool down. At night, it was very cold. He needed to wear a coat and light a fire. Unfortunately, he could only find a sweater but there was nothing to make some flames. He slept in a frozen tent. The next day, Roy set off in the early morning and he walked for three hours. He noticed the tip of the tower, in the distance. His hope returned.. He was happy so he climbed up and walked again until he got there. He was too tired and fell on the sand. When he woke up, he found he was inside the tower. There was food, drinks and a big bed. He thought this was a dream but it was real. Roy felt joyful and ate until he couldn’t eat another bite. He enjoyed a great time living in there. That night he slept in a big, warm bed. He felt very comfortable and satisfied because he had not slept in a bed like that for a long time. The next morning, he heard a loud noise. He went out of the tower and saw the plane. He was surprised because his mother and father were here. He couldn’t believe his eyes andcried. Suddenly there were some noises. It woke him up. Actually, it was just a dream. The Family Reunion Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, Lai Ka Yuet Belle, Fiction: Group 2

lost my parents at a very young age. Since I was a kid, I’ve been living with my wealthy aunt. She used to tell me tales about the Gobi Desert. One day, she was telling me a story of people finding treasure in the Gobi. ” Your mum and dad were brave adventurers like…”then she stopped. She looked ashamed and a bit blue. I was confused, “What father and mother? II thought you told me they died a few days after I…I was born.” I had to pause. My eyes were filled with tears, my heart was filled with sadness and grief. I feared if I said more, I would have broken down. There was a period of tense silence before my aunt spoke again, she was sorry that she accidentally told me her sister’s long –time secret. She went to the forbidden room and got a portrait of my parents holding me in their arms. She was sobbing as she handed me a map, “Go” she said, “Go and find them.” A few days later, I was packed up and ready to go. My aunt howled as I left. The shame had left her but she was worried about me, she was concerned if I would ever return. It was a long journey to the Gobi. All I had was a few pieces of clothes, a little water and some food. In the desert, there was sand, sand and more sand. I had been walking in the desert for several hours without eating or drinking, suddenly CRACK! I fell into a trap. The sand was burning hot, I felt like an ant on a frying pan. It was noon, the sun was directly above my head., I yelled for help but no one came to my aid. My world was spinning as if I was under a spell. Suddenly, everything became dark. I fell in the sand senselessly! When I woke up, the walls of sand were as cold as ice, I checked my thermometer. Wow! It was minus two degrees Celsius! With all my might, I used my grappling hook to climb out of the pit. After I got out, I saw a spark out of the night. A shooting star flew out of the sky and landed on one of the dunes. I sprinted as fast as the wind. When I got there, I found the shooting star circling around the dunes. As the last sparkle vanished, a spell book appeared my arms. A note was stuck to it, it said: use the spells wisely, remember you can only use each spell once. As if the note had read my mind, it disappeared just after I read it. I was astonished. I picked up the book and tried to sleep. The next day, I continued on my journey. Walking for eight hours straight was a terrible experience. So I sat on the burning hot sand and started to read the magic book. It was hard to read because the sun was always getting in my eyes. Instantly, the book started to flash. I thought I was seeing things but I still gave it a try. After I said transportation, the book gave me a weird spell. It said ‘with power in my hand, ship of the dessert I demand.’ Suddenly two camels appeared out of nowhere. One of them carried my luggage, and the other made me ride on it. Suddenly, out of nowhere a tiny fairy appeared. She was the most beautiful fairy I had seen in my life. She had light brown skin and sapphire eyes and brownish gold colored locks. She had on a pale pink dress with shimmering gold wings. “My name is Penelope. Since you found me, I am now your personal fairy assistant,” she said with a gentle silvery voice”. I will grant your wishes but you can only use three wishes, so what is your first wish? “I want to go to Crescent Lake, please.” At first some blue shiny sparkles started to surround me, and then. I was teleported to Crescent Lake. I let out a sign of relief. After a little rest, I was finally ready to continue on my journey. It wasn’t long until I started thinking that I needed a place to get a proper sleep. I needed a home, so I asked Penelope what to do. She said “I suggest you read the spell book to find a bit of guidance”. So I searched for a spell of guidance. As soon as I read the magic words a map appeared in my hand, and the only things on the map were a picture of me and one of a castle. So I asked Penelope about it she said. “This is the position of the mysterious castle that was built there by Ivy the princess, I believe something in that castle is yours.” “Goodbye!” Then she disappeared in sparkles. Finally, I got on my camel and started my journey towards the north. The temperature got lower as I went closer and closer to the castle, eventually it was so cold my camels died. After that, I went on foot to the castle. At the castle there was a big pile of snow blocking the entrance so I kicked at it with all my strength. Surprisingly, the snow melted before my foot had touched it and I fell through a trap at the front door. Once I set landed in the castle, alarms went off, snow leopards chased me trying to bite me. The guards were right behind them carrying a sharp sword. Fortunately, the chase didn’t last for too long. I found a big door at the end of the long corridor. I flung it open and tripped over the door ledge. I landed in front of the king and queen. I slowly lifted my head as the lady sat before me, in total amazement, whispered the word, “Son?” THE DREAM OF SURVIVAL Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, Lee Shun Yat Isaac, Fiction: Group 2

ndie Dhabi Jones is an Arabian explorer. At night on 17th July, 2013, he was brushing his teeth when he noticed a new kind of mouthwash near the sink in the bathroom. ‘Gobi Pure Mouthwash?’ he said as he grabbed it. He didn’t notice the warning sign on the bottle that read, ‘Don’t swallow. Nausea and other effects will be caused.’ IHe used the mouthwash and swallowed a drop of it! Later that night, while he was watching TV, he gradually felt dizzy and fainted… ‘Umm…Where am I? Where is the TV?’ Indie asked himself, trying to sit up. He blinked and realized he was in a gher! His situation became worse when he saw the calendar: 18th July, 2014! He was in the future! ‘Oh, my gosh! What should I do?’He was starting to get worried. Indie peered out of the warm gher. A vast, lava-hot desert appeared in front of him. A sign in the gher read Welcome to the Gobi. Indie was shocked! ‘I’m in the Gobi?!’ The gher was abandoned, except for a small Bactrian camel tied up outside. He was interested in this tame camel, knowing that it would be essential to his survival. He called her Alice. Indie gathered all the supplies he could find, including a small tent and a camel saddle. Once he was ready, he rushed out of the gher, put the saddle on Alice, and they ventured out into the desert. Indie heard someone shouting. ‘Help! Can somebody help me?’ He rushed to the scene and saw a girl. She had fallen into an abyss lined with cacti and she was screaming. Luckily, Indie had a long, thick rope and he threw it to the girl. Indie and Alice pulled tightly on the rope, but it stuck to a cactus and they fell into the abyss, too, along with a Mongolian water bottle that was in Alice’s saddlebag. ‘Who are you?’ Indie asked her. ‘I’m Lola and I’m in the Gobi doing research.I was looking for gold in this cave, but my rope snapped and I fell.’ All of a sudden, the floor rumbled and they fell deeper into the abyss, screaming. Thump! Directly in front of them was a high cave opening. They crept into the pitch-black opening, and things completely changed. Lights lit up and ten stone pillars appeared. ‘We need to think of a way outta here.’ Lola . She was very nervous. Ahead was a dead end. Lola noticed that above the cave opening was a row of dust-covered symbols carved into the rock.‘I study symbols. This symbol ‘†’ represents “A”.If we can spell out words, we will find the way to escape. Indie analyzed the symbols. ‘Oh dear…’ his eyes widened,“WARNING: BANDITS?!” Suddenly, Lola heard footsteps and someone shuffling. Five black shadows leapt down from the damp walls. They were bandits! ‘Crikey, I guess we are in grave danger.’ Indie gasped. An armored bandit said in a deep voice, ‘This is my cave! I am the leader of the Bandito Clan, Sabi. You will be brought to our base and shall be …executed!’ The bandits injected some blood-like serum into Indie, Alice and Lola, at the same time, and they fainted one by one. When they woke up, all around them were crates and boxes. ‘We’re in handcuffs!’ Indie cried, ‘And Alice is in a cage!’ Five minutes later, the door slammed open and out came Sabi. He forced Indie, Lola and Alice out of the tent and onto some wooden pedestals. ‘We’re going to be executed. They will light the log pilesaround us and we’ll be burnt alive! Wait a minute...a helicopter! Behind those crates! We can escape in it.’ Lola whispered. Minutes later, Sabi roared, ‘The story of the trespassing adventurers ends here.’ After that, Sabi hurled a torch onto the log pile closest to Indie. The wood began to burn fiercely. ‘If we don’t escape, we’ll turn to ashes.’ Lola said. ‘Don’t worry! I have my Mongolian bottle.’ Indie whispered. He opened the bottle, while the bandits were busy talking and water gushed out. There was so much water that every spark of fire was extinguished. The heroes jumped down from the pedestals, unlocked Alice’s cage, and ran to the helicopter. A gang of bandits chased them. Lola hopped into the driver’s seat while Indie and Alice climbed into the back. The helicopter rose into the hot air leaving behind a whirl of sand. They had left enemy territory. Lola was piloting carefully. She had learnt how to fly a helicopter during expedition trainings. Indie saw the Eastern Gobi Desert steppe a few hours later, and began to relax. He was so tired that he fell asleep. ‘Huh?’ Indie woke up. ‘Have I been dreaming?’ He looked at the calendar and sure enough, he was back to reality, lying in his comfortable hotel bed. It was time to leave. When he put on his shoes, there was agrainy feeling. It was sand! Indie wondered, ‘Is it from the Gobi?’ He put on his jacket ready to leave the room. There was a heavy feeling. In the pocket, was the Mongolian water bottle! On his way out, he saw a newspaper at the door. He picked it up. There was an article on the front page: LOLA FINDS GOLD WITH HELP OF A YOUNG MAN. Indie was really surprised! It read, ‘Tons of gold was found in crates at the base of wanted Gobi Desert mass murderer: Sabi. The gold was Lola’s reward for escaping. Lola said, “I found the Gobi gold after all.”’ He was confused and completely puzzled about the whole situation. As Indie drove to work, he thought about everything that he had experienced last night. Was it real? Could the clues help him discover the truth? Or was it an incredible twist in time? It is still a total mystery. The Prehistoric Surprise Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, Leung Sing Fung Gabriel, Fiction: Group 2

oe was on a mission to find gold in Gobi desert. Although he knew that it was very dangerous and he did not want to go there, he told himself, ‘I must go!” The beginning of this story is as follows: When Joe was still a child, he lived in a poor but happy family. But when he was eighteen years old, the situation changed. His dad died Jin a car accident and his mum got a serious disease. Because Joe didn’t want to lose both of his parents, he wanted to see the doctor but he found that he was really too poor to pay the medical fee! At last, he got an idea, to find some gold in Gobi desert, in an attempt to cure his mum. When he reached Gobi desert, he took all the things he had to use and started to look for some gold. He dug in the sand for a few hours, and he still couldn’t find what he wanted. When he was very tired and hungry, he sat on a stone to take a nap. Suddenly, a very loud noise woke him up and he found the thing that he sat on wasn’t a stone. It was a dinosaur egg!Then he saw a really big thing, as big as a giant, a T-Rex! When Joe saw the T-Rex, he was really scared and he did not move. Although he wanted to run, he was frozen stiff. At that moment, he thought that he would die. Suddenly, he saw another T-Rex. It spoke to him. It said, “Little guy, let’s strike him down! He is so strong that I can’t defeat him. I am Max. Can you help me?” Because Joe found that Max was quite kind, he told him, “Okay, I’ll help you.” At first, Max told Joe to sit on his back and give commands to him because he thought humans were smarter than himself. Joe followed his instructions. Next, Joe called Max to go straight ahead and bite the other T-Rex’s neck. Max did it and the other T-Rex roared in pain. Then, Joe told Max to swing the tail at the opponent. Max did it in a second and the other T-Rex was swung up to the sky. Finally, Joe called Max to hit the opponent on the head. The opponent flew miles away from them. Where did it go? Nobody knows. Maybe it flew to the ocean or the volcano or the moon! God knows. Max is so strong! After the fight, Max told Joe where it came from. Max was from about one hundred million years ago. One day, he went inside a cave with his friends. When he left the cave, he could not find his friends. Seconds later the cave disappeared and he was in the future! Then, he found there were a few dinosaurs there too. Because Max liked fighting with the other dinosaurs, it fought with that T-Rex. Suddenly, Joe thought of that the dinosaur egg that he sat on, and he asked Max, “Is the dinosaur egg that I sat on yours?” Max answered, “No, it isn’t mine. You can take it away.” So, Joe went back to the place that he found the dinosaur egg. When he went there, he could not find the dinosaur egg! Seconds later he found a rock and he heard somebody talk to him. The sound came from the sky! They said, “Come and fight with us! If you win, we will give you the dinosaur egg!’ The creatures that talked to Joe came down from the sky. They were a triceratops and an ankylosaurus, Max’s friends! A triceratops is a dinosaur that has three horns on its head and an ankylosaurus is a dinosaur whose body is covered by spikes. Joe sat on Max’s back, ready to fight with them. The battle started. The triceratops and the ankylosaurus went straight ahead and used their horns and head to hit Max but Max dodged it. Then Joe called Max to bite the Triceratops’ tail and swing it to the ankylosaurus. Max did it. The triceratops was in a lot of pain because the ankylosaurus’ spikes were so sharp. Finally, Joe called Max to scratch the ankylosaurus. That made it very painful. The ankylosaurus and the triceratops gave in and suddenly, they disappeared and became a dinosaur egg. Joe was very happy! When Joe wanted to pick up the dinosaur egg, Max said, ‘No! It has poison on it. If you touch it, you will die after seven days. Joe’s face became very serious and he said, “I must save my mother!’ Then, he picked up the dinosaur egg. Suddenly, Max became an angel and he talked to Joe, “You love your mother so much so I’ll let you and your mum recover. Also, you will become a millionaire!” When he went home, he found that his mother has recovered already and there was a bag of gold! He prayed and gave thanks to the Lord. “Thank you, God! Thank you for saving my mother and giving me a bag of gold…’ True Warrior The International School of Macao, Johnathan Chan, Fiction: Group 2

was a rebel in my city. Everyone hated me and wanted me destroyed. I had been running my whole life until fate gave me a new chance. I met a spy… but before you learn the present you must learn the past, learn the story of my life, “The Story of Drake”. In the burning hot Gobi desert, there was a place called the Sand Kingdom ruled by an Iunworthy king by the name of Sayton. His subjects were only allowed one measly meal and a cup of water a day. Since King Sayton was so cruel, he tortured all his opponents and rebels in the city until they perished. He executed my parents because they accidentally spilled water on him. As soon as all the rebels were gone, King Sayton thought that no one would bother him anymore. That’s when I turned eighteen and followed in my father’s footsteps. I went into hiding and learned to survive by myself. Every once in a while, I would go back to my city to steal food, but mostly I had to make do with what I found in the desert outside the city walls. On that fateful day when my story starts, I was in the middle of nowhere. Dehydrated and tired, I was looking for a nourishing cactus. The scorching sun was in my eyes and everything looked blurry. I raced furiously across the sand on my camel. At that moment, I spotted a glowing-white tent with many cacti growing around it. Someone might be sleeping in the tent, I thought. A gypsy, perhaps. I snuck towards the tempting cacti and took out my knife ready to cut one off. Just as my knife touched the prickly plant, a young woman’s voice yelled, “Stop! What do you think you’re doing?” She came around the tent wearing a bright green headdress made of shiny leaves. “You’re from the Sand Kingdom, aren’t you? You will be executed!” she roared pointing her bronze dagger at me. “Hunter, tie him up!” At first, I thought Hunter was a man, but then a humongous python jumped out of the tent and wrapped itself around me. “Yes, I am from the Sand Kingdom! But I’m a rebel!” I screamed. I thought these words could save me and they did. Quickly, the python loosened itself and dropped back into the sand. “A rebel? All rebels in that city are dead by now.” The girl looked at me expecting me to explain. “Yeah,” I exhaled, “I escaped.” “Escaped? How?” With that said, she welcomed me into her cool tent and I began to tell her my story. After I was done, I got even thirstier than before. “Hey you, can I please have some water now?” I begged. “Name’s Beatrice and help yourself.” I ran out and cut a slit in the cactus. I sucked up the water inside like hundreds of burning hyenas, but also saved some for later. Beatrice came out and said that she had something to discuss with me. “Drake, you know, you’re not the only living rebel from your town.” “What are you saying?” “It’s true! A long time ago, some of the rebels that escaped from the Sand Kingdom discovered a new land, The Land of Green. Legend says…” “You mean the story about Adam and Eve, the two Nuts and Bolts?” “Yes, kind of, but the legend is true. So the rebels that escaped long ago set up a new kingdom in a new place called the Jungle…” “Oh, so that’s where the thing on your head came from!” “Yes. Stop interrupting, Drake! Anyways, while the rebels who did not escape were being tortured, the Jungle’s army grew larger, so we attacked the Sand Kingdom and rescued all the remaining rebels. By then, King Sayton was almost dead. A traitor from The Jungle told him about one of our rare and precious fruit. It can only be grown in our caves and it helps you live forever unless someone kills you. So to this day, he keeps sending his soldiers over to try and steal it from us.” I could hardly believe my ears. Suddenly, galloping sounds reached us. “Oh, no! It’s them again,” gasped Beatrice. “Let’s get out of here!” I certainly did not know that you could ride on pythons. Hunter was faster than the soldiers’ horses. In no time, we were in The Jungle. Many trees dotted the place. On some, the inhabitants had built tree houses. Beatrice informed the head commander, Lector, that an attack was being launched by the Sand Kingdom. Soon we found out that they weren’t there to steal the fruit. They wanted to assassinate the Queen of The Jungle. Everybody was in shock. By morning, the war was planned. Beatrice, who as a spy, had often crept into the Sand Kingdom and knew it well, guided us as we organized ourselves. That whole night we practiced battle formation, attack and defense. Our plan was to attack the Sand Kingdom, invade the castle, and murder King Sayton. When we arrived in the warzone, to our surprise, King Sayton and his troops were already in battle formation ready to defend the castle. With a sudden cry of “LET THE WAR BEGIN!” we descended on our enemies. The screams of the injured soldiers were as harsh as the flames of a burning inferno. When I saw King Sayton, my determination to kill him rose higher than the sun itself. I galloped towards him. As he was struggling to defeat a Jungle soldier, I cut off his head with pride. Unfortunately, at that moment, a Sand soldier behind me thrust his spear right through my abdomen. With a last look at the conquering Jungle army, I collapsed onto the ground. My sacrifice was worth it. My spirit soared above the Gobi and the Jungle. Seeing equality and balance, I was contented. I knew the Jungle would survive now. Adventures in the Gobi Desert The International School of Macao, Cherry Choy, Fiction: Group 2

o! Mother! Father! Come back!” I woke up and bolted upright on my firm bed. “Mother... “ father… you promised me you would come back for me. Two months have passed, where are you?” I sobbed softly and tears rolled down my pale face. “No way they left me here all alone!” I whimpered. “I must find them and bring them home. I’ll set off tomorrow Nmorning for the Gobi in search for them!” I decided. So I started packing my traveling sack. I got my strong camel ready for the adventure and gave her lots of water. I patted Kamell’s wiry, golden-brown fur. Without her I would not be able to find my parents. The next morning, I set off at dawn. We rode further and further away from our hometown. The Gobi was barren and brown. The sand screeched with each of Kamell’s steps. I massage her rough fur for comfort. There was nothing, but sand dunes before our eyes and the blazing sun above us. After days of traveling, I only had a few sips of water and a piece of bread left. Still clueless whether I was any closer to my parents, I took out my map of the Gobi and saw a small village to the west. Suddenly, a ferocious gust of wind blew the aged and crumpled map out of my weak hands. That evening feeling lost, I ate the last of my bread and drank the last drop of water. Another day passed as we wandered through the desert. At sunset, I saw a few huts in the distance. “Hurray!” I exclaimed. As we drew near, excited I got off Kamell and tried to walk, but thirsty and exhausted, I dropped to the ground unconscious. When I woke up, I found myself stretched on a mat in a cool hut. A girl rushed over to help me up. “My name is Bayarmaa, what’s yours?” she asked me. “My name is Xanada!” I replied. Then, she asked me what I was doing all by myself in the dangerous desert, so I told her my whole story. She shared hers. “My mother has disappeared, too. I’ve always thought of searching for her, but never dared to. What if I join you on your journey, and we find our parents together?” “That’s a great idea! Let’s pack your bag and we’ll set off tomorrow morning!” I said and we started to prepare for the next day. Suddenly, I remembered something, “Bayarmaa, I came here on a camel. Do you know where she is?” I asked dreading her answer. “She’s fine, Xanada. I tied her to a wooden pole behind the hut,” she answered with a smile. The next morning, we hoisted our full bags onto Kamell and headed back into the desert. Bayarmaa and I chattered along merrily. Her laughter was as sweet as her shining black hair flowing down her back like a river. She said brightly, “I hope we find our parents! We must!” And so we rode for many days, keeping each other company and hoping to find our parents soon. Our supplies started dwindling and I stopped drinking water for fear we might run out of it and die. Suddenly, under the scorching sun, I caught sight of my mother and father. I jumped off Kamell without warning and raced to them. Bayarmaa steadied Kamell and raced after me. Am I doing something wrong? I looked at Bayarmaa, and then looked back at where I saw mother and father, but they were gone! Bayarmaa shouted, “Xanada, come back here right now! You’re hallucinating, have you not been drinking water?” If I refuse to tell her the truth, I might die. I told Bayarmaa what happened. She said, “It’s fine, things like that happen. Here,” she handed me her bottle of water and I gulped down most of it. The farther we rode, the more exhausted we grew and it was only hope that kept us going. The burning orange sun blistered our faces. The harsh winds covered us in sand. The bright light blinded us. Just as we thought everything was lost, I noticed a bunch of triangular shadows up ahead. I prodded Kamell to run. When we got closer, the sights got clearer. They were tents set up for the fossil dig. I told Bayarmaa, “Our parents might be there!” She agreed. We finally arrived at the fossil mining zone. It was quiet and deserted, but we heard shouting and shoveling in the distance. We rushed over. I asked a few people if they knew my parents. None of them did. As we were about to ask another man, a woman popped up behind him, “What is it?” I recognized their voices and faces immediately. They were my dear parents that I’d been searching for! “Mother! Father! I finally found you!” I hugged them with joy. “I’ve been searching for you for weeks or even months!” I caught the sight of Bayarmaa’s sad expression. “This is Bayarmaa. We’ve also been searching for her mother!” Immediately, father told Bayarmaa, “You know what? Your mother is one of our best friends! Let’s go to her tent!” As we arrived at a tent similar to others, we found Bayarmaa’s mother sitting inside. She stood up and hugged her daughter with happiness. It turned out that their dig was coming to a close, so a few weeks later, we set off back home through the arid, parched Gobi. We were all too glad and joyful to worry about the heat. It took us a shorter time to reach home compared to my journey. After six days of traveling, we waved goodbye to Bayarmaa and her mom, promising to visit them soon. When we got back home, we had a family reunion and invited everyone. Our family lived happily ever after. Carlos and Annabeth Mission in the Gobi The International School of Macao, Jessica Chen, Fiction: Group 2

t was a sunny Sunday morning, when a sharp telephone ring cut through the silence in the two archaeologists’ house. A young woman groaned and moaned as she came out of her bedroom to answer the phone. “Hello!” She heard a man’s voice at the other end of the line. “I am calling from the Museum of Mysteries. We were wondering if you and your partner Iwould like to help us find some dinosaur egg fossils in the Gobi for a dinosaur exhibit. If you can complete this task in a month, you will be awarded $1,500,000,000 in cash,” said the owner of the museum with a convincing tone. “Sure!” replied the woman, Annabeth. They discussed the details for a while and then hung up the phone. Although young, Annabeth was a renowned archeologist. She and her partner Carlos were both famous for digging up a number of dinosaurs fossils in America. They had once before found dinosaurs bones in the Gobi, too, so they knew it would be harsh and adventurous. Less than a week later, the two were ready to get on the private plane chartered for them by the Museum of Mysteries. On the flight, Carlos was sleeping peacefully while Annabeth was studying a map of the Gobi. Suddenly, the plane shuddered and began to lose altitude! With a tremendous boom, it crashed into the soft sand. Minutes later, Annabeth woke up in such confusion that she believed she was having a nightmare. With great effort, she steadied herself and realized what had just happened. She frantically shook Carlos until he came to, wide-eyed and bewildered. They quickly gathered what was left of their things, grabbed some food and a couple of bottles of water and followed the pilot who instructed them to run as far away from the wreckage as they could. Just a few seconds later, KABOOM! The plane vanished into a puff of black smoke. Fortunately, the compass they managed to grab before fleeing the plane would help them find the part of Gobi where they had been instructed to look for the dinosaur eggs. As they were walking, a strong wind began to blow. “A sandstorm is coming!” yelled Annabeth. “Duck under the sand dunes, and cover your head with clothing!” Three and a half hours later they were all covered in sand. Annabeth was the first to stand up. She went to find the others. Since it was getting dark, they decided to stop and put up their tents. Exhausted by the sandstorm, they ate some dry crackers and took small sips of water while planning what to do the next day. All of them fell asleep quickly. The sounds of animals scurrying out of their dens into the dark to find food kept interrupting their sleep. Just before dawn, while the sky was still dark and the weather was freezing, a loud shriek resounded in the night. Annabeth crawled out of her warm sleeping bag to find out what was happening. She was surprised to see that a desert tarantula had bitten Jason. His left arm was changing color and swelling fast. Annabeth told Jason not to panic because desert tarantulas were not poisonous. She wrapped a bandage around his numb hand, and went back to sleep. They woke up ready to continue their trek through the desert. They had been walking for a couple of hours, when Annabeth began to feel dizzy and hot. She started to hallucinate, thinking that they were dying and drowning in quicksand. Not long after, she collapsed and Carlos had to carry her until they found a place to rest in the shade of an overgrown bush. Later that day, they came across a nomad family named Ger who were setting up their big tent. They were more than happy to share it with the three travelers for a few days. The Gers took care of Annabeth, giving her water and food to fill her growling stomach. They healed Jason’s wound by putting homemade herb medicine on his hand. After a few days of living in the Gers’ tent, they were ready to continue their mission. The Ger family lent them two Bactrian camels to ride on and enough food to eat for weeks. Jason, Annabeth and Carlos thanked them and continued their long trek to the Northeastern part of the Gobi. After slow days of trudging through the heat and the sand of the desert, they finally reached their destination in the Gobi. As they were discussing what to do next, Annabeth tripped over what appeared as a smooth and rounded rock. “Ouch!” she exclaimed in pain. Taking a closer look, Carlos cried out, “ That’s actually a dinosaur egg!” Carefully, Carlos and Annabeth began to dig, while Jason as their assistant handed over the tools they needed. After hours of hard work, they finally dug out a nest of eggs. They celebrated the find, but soon thoughts of home started to nag at them. “How are we going to get back?” they asked one another. Sadness and panic began to creep into their hearts. Suddenly, Jason jumped up, “Wait! I hear something!” “It’s an airplane!” they all shouted out in disbelief. “They’ve come for us! Yay!” The owner of the museum, Mr. Duot congratulated them warmly. Annabeth stammered, “But….but how did you find us?” “Oh, good question!” he replied. “I started to worry when Jason did not come back. I tracked you by the GPS on his phone, but it was not easy!” On their way back to New York, Jason, Annabeth and Carlos told their amazing story to Mr. Duot, and he even suggested that they write a book! Back in their house, both Annabeth and Carlos exclaimed, “This is what I call home sweet home!” They were both excited about the award they were going to receive the following day, but most of all about the money! The Companion The International School of Macao, Antoinette Cheng, Fiction: Group 2

t was dawn. I watched the sun slowly make its way up the mountains and onto the deep blue sky, beams of sunlight caressing my cheeks. I shut my eyes, enjoying the warmth. “Bolorerdene!” called my elder brother, Batukhan. “It’s time for breakfast!” I followed Batukhan into the dining tent. It felt like walking into a swarming beehive. ICrowds gathered around feasting, blathering. But, when the chief stood up and held his hand up, everybody fell silent. “I’d like to remind you that we ought to be off on our journey South. We can’t be staying here in the North because of the cold weather. Pack up all your belongings and be ready to go in an hour.” “Batukhan! Please help me find teddy! I don’t know where it is!” I said frantically. He didn’t even bother to answer. I must’ve left it somewhere. But where? It was a gift from an American! I set off alone, scampering through the desert, scanning the sands, trying to find my bear quickly before we went South. When I finally found teddy, I sighed with relief. Happily, I ran back to the tents, ready to leave, when I noticed they weren’t there anymore. Where were they? They’re gone, girl. Without you, said a voice in my head. Frozen, I felt. Not of coldness, but emptiness. I searched for footprints, none could I find; I listened for sounds, nothing could I hear. I tried various ways to seek any hints of where they went, but it was hopeless. I was completely lost. I trudged on through the sand, thinking of a way out. None popped in my brain, none formed in my mind. I sat down. Then, I saw the sun sinking beneath the mountains saying, Child, it’s late. Go to sleep. I reluctantly lay down onto the cool sand. It was pitch black outside when I awoke. I felt was being watched. Squinting, I saw a shadow. I grew anxious. Standing up, I whispered, “Who’s there?” Only silence answered. My mind was whirling like a tornado. Who was it? The shadow advanced towards me like a ghost, lurking forward to grab its victim. I took a step back. Suddenly, a cold hand grasped my arm. I screamed and fell. Then everything went black. Streams of sunlight awoke me. My eyes flickered open and I saw a pair of twinkling blue eyes. I jumped in astonishment. “Bonjour mademoiselle,” said the owner of the eyes. “Avez-vous faim? Veulez-vous un peu de la salade d’oeufs?” I swallowed. “I can’t speak French.” “Ooh!” peeped the man, “Désolé, moi mistay.” “S’alright,” I said softly. “You were saying?” “I says doos wansum egg-salade?” “No, I’m fine. Not hungry.” I lied. Though I was hungry, being lost made me feel downcast and miserable and I wanted to starve myself. Somehow, it seemed the Frenchman could read my mind. “Ain’t sad, petite fille,” he said brightly, “You safee wiz me! Je suis un ze best known deetektiff in Fhance! Avery Proulix!” “Sorry,” I mumbled, “I’ve never been to France. I’m Bolorerdene, the nomad.” “Nohmadee? I nevaa meet nohmadee!” he paused, “I want know yer tale.” So I told him my story. He remained silent for a while. Breaking the silence, I asked, “I want to know your tale now.” Here was his story: One day, as Avery got home, he stumbled over something unusually soft. He looked down. What he saw made him jump. There was his neighbor, staring up dumbfound. A knife was sticking out of his breast. Avery began to search for evidence when several policemen crowded around him and grabbed his arms. The policemen thought they had found the serial killer terrorizing the town. They were wrong. They arrested Avery and brought him to court where they told the judge that Avery was the murderer. He wasn’t, though. He was only a detective trying to find out what had happened to his neighbor. However, the judge sentenced him to life in the desert. He was brought to the Gobi. “What a sad story!” I exclaimed. “I know how it feels.” “Ye,” said he, solemnly. “And I’m not allowed to leave ’ere,” “Alright,” I fumed, “but I need to find my family!” After a brief pause he sighed, “Velly vell, I go wiz you!” And that is how he became my companion. We had been traveling for a long time, when the wind started to blow. Sand flew everywhere and my eyes began to water. Gradually, the wind grew stronger. We had to stop. “Issa sandstorm!” Avery shouted. “Sheel yer eyes wiz yer arms zen walk to tallest sand dune!” I survived. Exhausted though I was, the thought of seeing my family again kept me going. The next morning, I was awoken by the sun again. I scanned the horizon, and nearby I saw a sign that, to my surprise, read: ‘Welcome to the Southern Gobi!’ We were at the edge of the desert and my heart filled with hope. “Bolorerdene!” said a familiar voice. Not Avery’s, but one I knew equally well. “Father!” I cried, “Father, I missed you so much!” I dashed into his arms. “Yo, sis!” said my brother. “Can’t believe you lost with your ted!” Behind him, crowds cheered as they saw me. They picked me up, threw me up and caught me again.Tears filled my eyes. I never thought I would see them again. In the distance, I could see Avery running towards me. “Who’s that?” whispered father. “My companion,” I breathed, “my fellow companion!” I darted to Avery and hugged him. “Thank you,” I said. Tears formed in my eyes, but I blinked them back. “I won’t ever forget you. I couldn’t have survived in this desert alone!” “I vill miss ye,” said Avery gravely. “boot I cannot leaf...” I watched as Avery strode back into the Gobi. That was the last time I saw him… Adventures in the Gobi Desert The International School of Macao, Cherry Choy, Fiction: Group 2

o! Mother! Father! Come back!” I woke up and bolted upright on my firm bed. “Mother... “ father… you promised me you would come back for me. Two months have passed, where are you?” I sobbed softly and tears rolled down my pale face. “No way they left me here all alone!” I whimpered. “I must find them and bring them home. I’ll set off tomorrow Nmorning for the Gobi in search for them!” I decided. So I started packing my traveling sack. I got my strong camel ready for the adventure and gave her lots of water. I patted Kamell’s wiry, golden-brown fur. Without her I would not be able to find my parents. The next morning, I set off at dawn. We rode further and further away from our hometown. The Gobi was barren and brown. The sand screeched with each of Kamell’s steps. I massage her rough fur for comfort. There was nothing, but sand dunes before our eyes and the blazing sun above us. After days of traveling, I only had a few sips of water and a piece of bread left. Still clueless whether I was any closer to my parents, I took out my map of the Gobi and saw a small village to the west. Suddenly, a ferocious gust of wind blew the aged and crumpled map out of my weak hands. That evening feeling lost, I ate the last of my bread and drank the last drop of water. Another day passed as we wandered through the desert. At sunset, I saw a few huts in the distance. “Hurray!” I exclaimed. As we drew near, excited I got off Kamell and tried to walk, but thirsty and exhausted, I dropped to the ground unconscious. When I woke up, I found myself stretched on a mat in a cool hut. A girl rushed over to help me up. “My name is Bayarmaa, what’s yours?” she asked me. “My name is Xanada!” I replied. Then, she asked me what I was doing all by myself in the dangerous desert, so I told her my whole story. She shared hers. “My mother has disappeared, too. I’ve always thought of searching for her, but never dared to. What if I join you on your journey, and we find our parents together?” “That’s a great idea! Let’s pack your bag and we’ll set off tomorrow morning!” I said and we started to prepare for the next day. Suddenly, I remembered something, “Bayarmaa, I came here on a camel. Do you know where she is?” I asked dreading her answer. “She’s fine, Xanada. I tied her to a wooden pole behind the hut,” she answered with a smile. The next morning, we hoisted our full bags onto Kamell and headed back into the desert. Bayarmaa and I chattered along merrily. Her laughter was as sweet as her shining black hair flowing down her back like a river. She said brightly, “I hope we find our parents! We must!” And so we rode for many days, keeping each other company and hoping to find our parents soon. Our supplies started dwindling and I stopped drinking water for fear we might run out of it and die. Suddenly, under the scorching sun, I caught sight of my mother and father. I jumped off Kamell without warning and raced to them. Bayarmaa steadied Kamell and raced after me. Am I doing something wrong? I looked at Bayarmaa, and then looked back at where I saw mother and father, but they were gone! Bayarmaa shouted, “Xanada, come back here right now! You’re hallucinating, have you not been drinking water?” If I refuse to tell her the truth, I might die. I told Bayarmaa what happened. She said, “It’s fine, things like that happen. Here,” she handed me her bottle of water and I gulped down most of it. The farther we rode, the more exhausted we grew and it was only hope that kept us going. The burning orange sun blistered our faces. The harsh winds covered us in sand. The bright light blinded us. Just as we thought everything was lost, I noticed a bunch of triangular shadows up ahead. I prodded Kamell to run. When we got closer, the sights got clearer. They were tents set up for the fossil dig. I told Bayarmaa, “Our parents might be there!” She agreed. We finally arrived at the fossil mining zone. It was quiet and deserted, but we heard shouting and shoveling in the distance. We rushed over. I asked a few people if they knew my parents. None of them did. As we were about to ask another man, a woman popped up behind him, “What is it?” I recognized their voices and faces immediately. They were my dear parents that I’d been searching for! “Mother! Father! I finally found you!” I hugged them with joy. “I’ve been searching for you for weeks or even months!” I caught the sight of Bayarmaa’s sad expression. “This is Bayarmaa. We’ve also been searching for her mother!” Immediately, father told Bayarmaa, “You know what? Your mother is one of our best friends! Let’s go to her tent!” As we arrived at a tent similar to others, we found Bayarmaa’s mother sitting inside. She stood up and hugged her daughter with happiness. It turned out that their dig was coming to a close, so a few weeks later, we set off back home through the arid, parched Gobi. We were all too glad and joyful to worry about the heat. It took us a shorter time to reach home compared to my journey. After six days of traveling, we waved goodbye to Bayarmaa and her mom, promising to visit them soon. When we got back home, we had a family reunion and invited everyone. Our family lived happily ever after. The Flight of the Gobi The International School of Macao, Jamie Alexander Clarke, Fiction: Group 2

t was 8:00 am on January 28th, 2013, in Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport, where I was sitting in my seat on flight QR1, waiting for take off. Suddenly, the plane’s loudspeaker boomed out. “Welcome aboard flight QR1, direct to Beijing. We will be taking off shortly. My name is Captain Jack.” The engines roared. As we lifted into the air, I looked out the window, Iand watched the Eiffel Tower fade away in the distance. When we got into airspace, I started to think, “Right! 15 minutes gone, 660 minutes to go. Time to get out my book.” It was called Legends, and it was by, well, me! Jason des Voeux! Yes, I’m an author! The whole reason of me going to Beijing was to get ideas for my new book, Adventures of the Great Wall. About 9 hours later, I looked at the plane’s map. We were just going over the Gobi Desert! Suddenly, without warning, the 875,000-pound Boeing 747 shuddered and dropped towards the ground. Before I knew what was happening, the plane burst into a blazing inferno on the sand dunes of the Gobi. When I became conscious again, I felt unbelievably cold. But it was hot when the plane crashed! Then I saw the plane’s wreckage was covered with ice! Was I hallucinating? Where was I? “Help!” I heard someone cry out. I tried to get up to figure out where the sound was coming from. My ankle was throbbing. I dragged myself towards what was left of the cockpit, and saw a person there. “I’m Jack, the captain of this plane,” he said, “I’m stuck behind this broken bit of machinery, so do you mind helping me out?” Using all the strength I had, I pushed the wreckage aside. “Thanks!” Jack said. “Who are you?” “I’m Jason des Voeux,” I explained. “The Jason des Voeux?” The pilot asked, bewildered. “The author?” “Yes,” I replied. “Now how are we going to get out of this mess? I hurt my ankle, so I won’t be able to walk far.” “There’s a first-aid kit in the cockpit,” he said. He led me to the inside of the big pile of burnt metal and pointed at a box. I put some medicine on my ankle. Jack sat down muttering. “What have I gotten myself into?” We grabbed pieces off the smashed Boeing 747 to make a small tent for the night. I did not have a good sleep, and neither did Jack. I kept having nightmares about when the plane crashed. The next day, we grabbed a bottle of water each from the plane’s galley, and set off in the snow-covered desert. We were going to try and look for civilization. Along the way, we saw camels eating snow! I guess it was their only source of water. Just thinking about water was making me dizzy. We had already finished off our bottles of water, and I was starting to dehydrate. We tried to go back to the plane, but we couldn’t find it. Just as my eyes landed on a snow leopard, I collapsed with dehydration. The pilot shook me awake. He said he saw a car in the distance. I asked him how long I had been out for, and he said about 5 hours. I sat up. A navy-blue Jeep was heading in our direction. It pulled up in front of us, and a tall, black haired man in an orange jacket jumped out. “Are you lost?” he asked. Jack was first to reply. “Yeah, sort of. You see, we had a plane crash, further over to the east.” The man asked if we wanted to join him. He was going to look for dinosaur egg fossils. So there were dinosaur fossils here, too! The Gobi seemed like a magnificent, untouched spot that Earth had given us as a gift. As the Jeep bumped along the sand dunes, he handed us a big bottle of water each, and explained, “I am Fernando, and work for the Natural Science Museum of Spain. I came here in search of dinosaur eggs.” “Look! Who are they?” I interrupted pointing in front of the car. Fernando answered me. “Those men riding on camels are traders using the Silk Road. And you are?” “I’m Jack, the captain of the plane.” Jack replied. “It was meant to go to Beijing, but a sandstorm threw us off course and caused an engine failure.” Then it was my turn. “I’m Jason des Voeux, an author who writes adventure -” I was interrupted by a loud thud coming from the bottom of the car. Jack scurried out of the Jeep. “Looks like we hit a rock!” he said. Fernando grabbed the winch from the back of the car, but one glimpse at the big rock told him it was a dinosaur egg! He dug it out of the ground and grabbed a device out of his bag. He pressed a button, and a speaker on the device said, “Air lift approaching.” Fernando put the dinosaur egg in the car just as a cargo plane with “Museo Nacional” printed on the side came towards us. Fernando shouted, “Buckle your seat belts!” A rope dropped from the plane, and Fernando tied it to a hook on the back of the car. He jumped into the car, fastened his seat belt, and we were airborne. As we rose up, I thought of how dangerous this stunt was. Once we reached the plane, the crew towed the car onto the plane from the back exit ramp, and closed the gates. Fernando started spoke to them in Spanish, then turned to us. “This plane is heading for Madrid. I’m sure you’ll be able to get a flight to Paris from there.” I guessed there wasn’t much point going to Beijing because I had a story about the Gobi! And that story is the one you are reading right now. Battle of the Gobi The International School of Macao, Braeden Donohoe, Fiction: Group 2

oming, Mum!” “ It was the first Sunday of November. Warm sunrays were bursting through the window. As Jaygon crawled out of bed, he looked at his father’s picture on the wall. “Morning, Dad,” Jaygon said. Murtal left before Jaygon was born. His mum, Jade, never Cspoke about his father. This was the day when Jaygon, his best friend Shantel and his mother were going to fly to the edge of the Gobi to experience life in the desert. On the plane, Jade said, ”Get ready for a new adventure.” At the hotel, Jaygon asked once again, “Mum, can you tell me about dad?” She didn’t reply. He was going to find out sooner than he thought. “Jaygon! Wake up!” There were two inches of sand on the floor. His mum looked terrified. “It’s Shantel,” she sobbed. ”She is missing and there are giant foot marks everywhere.” He realized he might never see his best buddy again. “SHANTEL! COME BACK!” Jaygon screamed at the top of his lungs. His mum tried to calm him down. “I’m sorry Jaygon, but I don’t know what to do.” Jaygon was boiling with anger. “We are going to look for her high and low!” They packed up and made a plan. They were going to buy camels to ride on in the Gobi and supplies for the long trek. The days were long and tedious. Just as they were running out of hope, Jaygon noticed something in the distance. “Mum, look, people!” he cried. They had not seen anybody in months. Now they had barely any water and food left. As they got closer, Jaygon realized those were not people. Their eyes slanted into a point like eagles’. “That can’t be, ” Jade whispered. “Welcome to Elsador, land of the elves.” Elves! thought Jaygon, they’re a myth! “Wait a sec, are you Jade Fannow?” asked one of the men. “What’s going on?” Jaygon was scared out of his shoes. “Jaygon, meet your dad, Murtal.” Disbelief struck Jaygon. He could not believe his dad was an elf. “You have to help! My best friend Shantel has been kidnapped,” he begged Murtal2.54. “Come in. It’s been years,” his dad said. When he stepped into his Dad’s house, Jaygon was blasted with the aroma of pine needles and mint. “It’s beautiful,” he mumbled. “Thank you,” replied Murtal, “I worked hard to build this house. Let’s sit down and talk”. Jaygon dropped into a wooden chair cushioned with feathers. “So what is this about your best friend being kidnapped?” asked Murtal. “So first of all, she was captured at night, and second, there was sand everywhere,” said Jaygon very quickly. “I do know someone who might be able to help.” So they set off. As they walked through Elsador, he thought about how much effort the elves put into building this beautiful city. Every inch of each building was built to perfection. Murtal took them into a building with massive grounds behind it. After a long wait, they finally saw the person they were waiting for. “Jaygon, I would like you to meet Zanedal, he will prepare you to go find your best friend.” When Murtal left, they started to begin the training. “I am quite sure that your friend was kidnapped by the Shagtul, sand monsters. Their leader’s name is Turnig, the biggest and strongest of the Shagtul. They are all extremely powerful and deadly. Their nails are their killing weapons, so you have to be extremely fast thinking and fast moving.” Four slow months passed. Finally, Jaygon felt ready to save his friend. He knew all he needed to beat the Shagtul. When he got back to Murtal’s house, Jade was drenched in sweat. “What happened to you?” asked Jaygon. “What? You think I’m just going to watch you fight?” exclaimed Jade. “You have been training, too?” said Jaygon surprised. “For a long time!” “I’m ready to kick some sand butt!” yelled Jaygon. So they set off to find Shantel. “Wake up, I see them,” Jade whispered. Jaygon had slept with his armor on and his sword at his side. When they crawled out of the tent, Jaygon got a glimpse of the biggest Shagtul. That must be Turnig, he thought. Caged next to him, was Shantel. “There she is!” murmured Jaygon. “One, two, three, go!” They ran out and charged. Jaygon jumped through one Shagtul’s claws, then turned around and stabbed him in the calf. The giant screamed in agony. From a distance he heard a whole herd of Shagtul yelling in pain. Wow! Jaygon thought. I didn’t know my mum was that strong. He stabbed, slashed, punched and kicked past all the Shagtul and saw his mum facing Turnig. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little hero. Oh, and his mummy is here to protect him. How sweet!” Anger was boiling inside Jaygon. “You’re going to regret saying that,” he screamed. Then, fast as a bullet, Jade shot under Turnig’s legs. Turnig bent over to look through his legs. At that moment, Jaygon jumped up, flipped in the air and stabbed Turnig on the back of his head. Turnig howled and dropped to the ground. Jaygon and his mum raced to the cage and opened it. “Welcome back, Shantel,” said Jaygon. Shantel ran and hugged him. “I can’t thank you enough,” she mumbled. Jaygon had become the Hero of the Battle of the Gobi. “So Shantel, what happened when you were caught?” asked Jaygon. “They gave me a drink that would make me unconscious.” Jaygon’s mum explained how they had found Jaygon’s dad in Elsador. Then Jaygon told her all about the training. “So both you and your dad are elves?” asked Shantel. “My mum and I have become elves, but my dad was born one.” Shantel was shocked. “Unbelievable!” Back at the hotel, they packed their bags and went to the airport. “What an adventure that was!” exclaimed Jade. “It sure was, mum.” Camel Love The International School of Macao, Madeleine Z. Joslin, Fiction: Group 2

atukhan awoke to the blazing rays of the sunlight streaming through the torn parts of the tiny straw hut the sandstorm had ripped up a few weeks before. It was another hot day out in the Gobi, and Batukhan knew that he must climb out of bed soon, otherwise, Malakh would be extremely aggravated with his younger brother. Batukhan shoved on Bhis shoes and trudged out to meet his brother and the rest of the Wagodi village people. “Batukhan, take Raven out, and bring back some tamarisk and wild onions for breakfast,” demanded Malakh who was the vegetable supplier for the whole village. “Of course, Malakh. I’ll go get Raven now.” Batukhan was excited to go out with Raven into the desert. Raven was an adventurous little camel that loved going out with Batukhan, her best friend!! Batukhan climbed over the towering sand dunes to find Raven groaning with pain. “What happened, Raven? You’ve got yourself stuck in some saltwort plant, my dear girl. Hold on, I’m going to get you out of there!” Raven’s pain was clearly excruciating, but Batukhan, drawing strength from the love and friendship he felt for this young camel, soon got her out of the plant safe! “There you go, darling girl. You’re okay, aren’t you?” They both stood back up and were on their way to find Malakhs’ usual order. After about half an hour of walking with great difficulty, they found what they were looking for. The tamarisk and wild onion that they had been searching for were at their finger tips. “Raven, come on, hurry, dear! Help me pick these plants to take back to Malakh and the rest of the Wagodi village people.” But when Batukhan took a closer look, he realized that all of them were disastrously dried up and quite unusable. “I can’t believe it, Raven! They have all died in the scorching sun! Come on. We better get a move on if we are going to hike our way through the next 5 kilometers to find some FRESH breakfast.” So off they went, meandering their way among the dunes of the Gobi desert. After about 45 minutes of walking with great struggle in the hot sun, they arrived at another spot. “Great! Let’s start picking out these healthy plants and hurry them home to Malakh.” “Not so fast!!” yelled an unfamiliar voice resentfully. Batukhan turned around in shock to find out who this person was. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want some plants as well? Well, I’m sure there’s enough for both of us. If you want, I can help…” But, Batukhan was interrupted in the middle of his sentence. “I don’t want those dreadful plants. I want your camel, you foolish twit.” “Oh, you mean Raven. No, sorry she’s not for sale. What was your name again?” “The name’s Asenath. Now hand over the camel, or should I say hand over the nitwit?” “No. Look, I’m sorry, I already told you, you can’t have Raven.” “You boneheads don’t understand, do you? Look, my beloved Father is dying, and I need to feed camel meat to him. Camel meat has a medicine in it that can keep people alive for a while longer, at least until the doctor can come to see my dad.” “Well, I’m very sorry to hear about your father, but maybe if you weren’t so bitter to us, I would consider helping you find another camel for your dear father. Why do you want Raven so desperately? There are plenty of other wild camels in the desert! Raven is my best friend. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please, I beg of you, don’t kill her!” “I’m not telling you again. Hand her over to me NOW! She’s big and fat which means more meat.” Batukhan knew that his situation was dangerous, but he thought up an excellent plan! He understood that Asenath needed the camel meat for her father, but Raven was too special to give up. “Raven,” Batukhan whispered. “1, 2, 3, GO!” Batukhan leaped onto Ravens back and ZOOOOOOMED away back to Malakh and his village. Batukhan’s love for Raven was too strong for anything to break it. So always remember, if you love someone, don’t ever let them go! The Fortunate Find The International School of Macao, Natalie Leong, Fiction: Group 2

woke up, petrified, to the sound of terrified screams all around me. I rushed out of the house, expecting to feel the sun’s warm rays on my face, but instead of that pleasant feeling, rough sand was whipping and whirling all around me. I gasped. It was a sandstorm that had come from the Gobi Desert behind the Shangba Village, where I lived. Where were my parents and Imy sister, Lian? Before I even had time to look around, I was tripped by another confused villager and fell head first onto the ground, immediately unconscious and enveloped in total darkness. When I regained my senses, the desert stretched all around me as far as I could see. Not a single person was in sight, but as I looked around more closely, I saw a shadow in the distance. It was the silhouette of a girl. I ran towards her. “Are you alright?” I asked anxiously. She looked up in surprise and said, “Yeah. What just happened?” “I think it was a sandstorm.” Not knowing which way to go, we decided to stay together and began our journey in the Gobi. Soon, night fell and we felt exhausted from an entire day of laborious walking. As we sat down to rest, she told me that her name was Annchi. “Where are you from?” I asked her. “Shangba Village.” Before I even had time to tell her that I was from the same village, she fell asleep. As I turned away to take a closer look at my surroundings, I noticed a tiny wooden hut. An enticing smell of freshly baked bread lured me towards it. Maybe someone inside could offer us some food and water! I pushed the door open and was greeted by an elderly woman. She smiled kindly and handed me a cup of tea. As soon as I reached out, everything disappeared. “HEY!” I shouted. “What is it?” asked Annchi startled. “I think I had a hallucination,” I said sadly. Feeling sorry for me, she gave me a hug, a hug that we both needed. Soon we both fell asleep. Suddenly, we were awakened by the hiss of a snake. It didn’t look like any snake that I had seen before. My instinct told me to run. So I took off with Annchi at my heels. The snake was slithering behind us, getting closer and closer. I plunged into a sand dune, with sand shifting ceaselessly all around me. I had a final glimpse of the snake before, to my greatest astonishment, it turned into human and vanished! Slowly, I crawled out of the sand dune, pondering at what had just happened. “Did you see that?” I asked Annchi perplexed. “The snake? Of course!” “I can’t believe that it turned into a human!” “What? Human? What are you talking about? Are you hallucinating aaggaainn?” With a heavy sigh, wishing that I wasn’t the only one who had seen the snake transform, I trudged onwards. We had not had any water for a long time and were desperately in need for it when Annchi shouted, “There’s a plant over there! There must be water nearby!” Using our already coarse hands, we wildly wrenched the plant from its roots, scooping away the sand. I started to doubt whether there was any water at all, when I abruptly toppled backwards. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine. There’s something really bright in there.” Cautiously, we continued digging and before long, my hands felt something burning hot. We uncovered an odd shaped metal object...it was gold! “There’s a compass in here too! This could lead me back to my family!” I exclaimed. I was so delighted! And there was also all the gold that I could take back to them! As I looped the chain of the compass around my neck and before I even had time to react, Annchi’s hand snatched the compass and took off, running faster than the wind, taking with her all the gold we had found. “NO!” I shouted, running after her. “I need the compass to get home! I’m from Shangba Village too!!” But it was no use. She was already a dot in the horizon. A feeling of betrayal overwhelmed me. For days, she had been my only hope of surviving in this isolated desert. We had gone through so much together. How could she do that? Tears poured down my face as I slowly sat down. I had dreamed of being reunited with my family. I wanted to bring the gold back home so that all the villagers could prosper with it. Now… those dreams were shattered. I lay onto the ground, finally giving up, and fell asleep from exhaustion. The sound of the helicopter woke me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was filled with joy as mom, dad and Lian rushed from the helicopter, enveloping me in tight hugs. Then I saw Annchi rushing forward, trying to explain, “I took the gold and the compass to get back to my family. But then I heard you shout that you were also from Shangba Village! It was too late to return to you… so I just…just told someone that you were in the middle of the Gobi!” “Thanks for coming back!” I hugged her. On the way home, I remembered how I had always wanted to move away from the Gobi. But now I thought otherwise. It was in the Gobi that so much had happened in my life and in the course of just these few days, it had changed who I was. I realized that everyone should cherish each day they have with their loved ones. We struggle so much with obstacles in life, but as long as we persevere and we believe in ourselves, we will always be able to succeed no matter what we choose to do. The Trek Into The Gobi The International School of Macao, Danielle Varga, Fiction: Group 2

he red jeep pulled up on the driveway and Scarlette and Mayson walked down to it, their shoes crackling on the rocky ground. They were explorers who had travelled all over the globe searching for fossils, and now their destination was The Gobi, but only one problem stood in their way. His name was Eilka, the leader of the Akas, a tribe of Tgreedy men willing to take anybody’s life if they came to close to their only source of money, the precious fossils of the Gobi. As they brushed the anxious thoughts off their minds, they got ready to get in the jeep and start their journey. “Wait!” shouted Amy, their daughter, who was staying behind with her grandmother. “ Promise you’ll come back safe!” “Of course. We’ll be back sooner than you think,” replied Scarlette. “I’ll miss you,” the little girl whimpered. “It won’t be that bad,” Scarlette held her in her arms a little longer. “Let’s go!” called Mayson. Amy waved, sadness in her eyes. While they drove away, worries began to cross Scarlette’s mind. “I’m scared, Mayson.” “Don’t worry. It’s just another job,” said Mayson calmingly. “It is three whole weeks,” she said uncertainly. “It will pass very quickly, you’ll see.” They finally pulled up to a landing spot where a small plane awaited them. “All aboard!” croaked the pilot. As they heard the “clink!” of their rusty seatbelts, all Scarlette felt was regret. “We are here!” cried Mayson. They scanned the horizon, with mountainous sand dunes as far as they could see. Soon nightfall came and they slept silently, without knowing that Eilka was there once again watching them. “Don’t worry Scarlette,” he laughed evilly. “I am stirring up trouble already.” The next morning when they awoke, Scarlette had a feeling that something was very wrong. “Morning! I hope you’re ready! Time to go!” said Mayson cheerfully. Scarlette wasn’t listening though. She could hear a low rumbling coming from behind her. When she turned around, it was too late. A sandstorm hit them full blast, bringing them to their knees, eyes painfully scratched by sand. Fingernails dug deep into the dry clay. They tried to hold on, but found it almost impossible. After what seemed like an eternity, the storm grew weaker. “Mayson?” called out Scarlette. “I’m over here,” said Mayson in a hoarse voice. They found each other, making their way through the sandy air, guiding themselves with their hands. “Let’s set up camp,” he added. “Night is falling.” With the day behind them, they soon fell into a deep sleep. “Well, I didn’t think they would make it, but they did,” cackled Eilka. “If nature can’t stop them, I will.” When morning came, they started another day of trekking. Tired though they were, they knew the mine was nearby. Many hours later when she could barely feel her blistered feet, Scarlet groaned, “I’m exhausted! Shall we stop for the night?” “Sure.” replied Mayson. They made camp again, but the next morning, they woke up with knives to their throats. “Hello, hello!” chuckled Eilka “What a lovely reunion.” “What do you want?” said Mayson in a muffled voice. “ If I see you in the fossil mine, I’ll kill you both!” he threatened. “Let us go!” screamed Scarlette. “Just this time! But remember!” Eilka finished, and the Akas removed their knives pushing the two explorers to the ground. When they were gone, Scarlette hesitated, “We can’t risk it anymore.” “This is what we came here to do. Do you want to give up now?” asked Mayson. “Not really. This is dangerous, though!” begrudged Scarlette. After many more hours of trudging through the desert, Mayson exclaimed, “We’re here!” They got into the mine and began digging, finding fossils everywhere. Suddenly, two Akas grabbed them, and held back their arms, so they couldn’t escape. “I guess you two were just too dimwitted to listen. Kill him1” Eilka ordered, pointing at Mayson. “I want the woman.” “Wait!” cried Scarlette. “We’ll find the fossils and give them to you! ” Eilka turned to his men. Quietly, Scarlette picked up a stone and raised it over her head. Wham! It crashed on Eilka’s head and he slumped to the ground. The Akas’ gaze slowly turned towards Scarlette. Mayson hissed quietly, “Run!” They ran as fast as they could, but the Akas were gaining on them. At that point, nobody knew Eilka was dying. Suddenly, the Akas stopped and fell to the ground clutching their chests, like they had just been stabbed. It was as though they shared a body with Eilka. As he died, the Akas flopped down dead to the ground. “They’re all dead!” exclaimed Scarlette astonished. “What?? I don’t understand, but let’s hurry! Our plane should be here soon. Let’s head back to the main trail,” replied Mayson. They walked silently, wondering how this had just happened. “Hello there. How was the trek, did you find any fossils?” questioned the scruffy pilot. “No, not this time. But that’s okay, we gained an experience that we will never forget,” answered Mayson. As they got on the plane, Scarlette could not enjoy the thought she would be home soon because too many thoughts raced through her head, too many questions without answers. “This is all my fault!” she thought. Eilka and the Akas were a threat, but she hadn’t meant to kill them all! “This is all my fault!” she whispered. “No, it isn’t.” Mayson reassured her. “You didn’t know that would happen. You’d never do that, even to enemies.” “I… I guess you’re right,” mumbled Scarlette. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the flight, the silence remaining unbroken. “Here we are, it’s jus’ a short car ride from ‘ere.” wheezed the pilot. A few minutes later, they were pulling up to the driveway where Amy was waiting by the steps happy to see them back safe. She had no idea how close they came to never returning home. A Trip in the Gobi Desert The International School of Macao, Callis Wong, Fiction: Group 2

Monday, December 5, 2013

My name is Jacob Angelo, and I am an archaeologist. I am searching for dinosaur fossils in the Nemegt Basin of the Gobi Desert with two more archaeologists, Bianca Stride and Steve Notch. Bianca loves snow, which makes it kind of strange for her to be here, and Steve loves sandwiches. He could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day! So anyway, I found this journal in the bottom of my backpack and I decided to record our findings so I could read about them later on. We have been here for three days already and we dug out a nest of Triceratops eggs with a baby Triceratops next to it. We are going to be here for a week, but we don’t have much water left, so I am quite worried about getting dehydrated.

Tuesday, December 6, 2013

The weather isn’t that good today. We just experienced a sandstorm. To keep ourselves and the equipment from blowing away, we had to hold on to a nearby tree and grab our equipment tightly. We had our eyes shut the whole time for fear sand might blind us. Fortunately, we also made a discovery! Steve found a bit of a dinosaur bone sticking out of the sand. We dug most of it out and we are going to continue tomorrow. I explored the basin a bit with Bianca and we came upon a herd of black-tailed gazelles grazing on thorns near our camp. They were very friendly and I think I will bring Steve to see them some other day.

Thursday, December 8, 2013

I didn’t write yesterday because we spent the whole day working on the fossil we found on Tuesday. We have most of it dug out and I think it might be the mother of the Triceratops nest we found a few days earlier. But the weather today is even worse! There was a terrible sandstorm, so we had to quit working for the day. I am writing this in the safety of my tent. We only have two liters of water left, so unless we find an oasis, we are for sure going to get dehydrated. My mouth and throat are parched.

Saturday, December 10, 2013

Bad news! We worked all day today and yesterday because we didn’t get any work done on Thursday. Unfortunately, Bianca got dehydrated in the desert sun, so we had to take her back to her tent to rest. It’s warm during the day, but bitter cold at night. The good news is that we have finally freed from the sand the dinosaur fossil Steve found.

Sunday, December 11, 2013

It’s snowing today! Steve and I went outside to check on the weather and all we saw was whiteness! I saw some camels in the distance eating the snow. We were so happy we leaped with joy because snow means water, and water means we’re going to survive! I quickly crouched down and started gathering snow into a pile while Steve went back inside to get the bottles in which we store water. Then I went inside to wake Bianca while Steve filled the bottles with snow. I told her the news and watched her sit up without any sign of tiredness or sickness. I think a good night’s sleep must have done her good. Soon, she was up and ready. We all helped Steve put the snow into the bottles and warmed them up to turn it into water. After a long drink of water, we had a snowball fight! We made forts and had lots of fun. We even built a snowman! Steve found some twigs, and we had fun decorating the snowman. We gave it eyes, nose, mouth and arms. Bianca even made a hat for it by weaving some bendy twigs together! I also took a picture of the snowman.

Monday, December 12, 2013

It’s time to go home! This evening at about 6 o’clock, a helicopter will pick us up and take us to the airport. We already have our equipment, tents, and fossils packed ready to take back home to New York with us. Bianca, Steve and I just returned from saying goodbye to the gazelles. Steve didn’t really want to leave them, but after a bit of persuading from Bianca and me, he finally left the herd. Even though we had some problems, this is still a memorable trip. Princess Panita of the Gobi Desert Victoria Shanghai Academy, Anya Brown, Fiction: Group 2

nce upon a time, a princess called “the great ruler PANITA!” lived in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia with her husband, who was named Geezail. He was also a great and famous warrior and people called him “the greatest warrior of the Gobi Desert.” Panita and Geezial were a beautiful and lovely couple, and the perfect match together. OPanita was the princess of a tribe called the Great Tribe of the Gobi Desert. Her husband trained the soldiers every day and they were a good working team together. The prince was a rich man, he was a charming and good looking! Panita loved him a lot, but had kept a secret from him and other people about a necklace she wore on her neck. It had the power to make “Cold” and “Frost”. Panita had an animal called “Fatty”! (Her Favorite Animal!) It was a rainbow coloured, magical puppy dog ! Geezail was very popular, even more so than Panita. People respected him a lot. What with being the husband of a princess, it was very hard to keep up with his own hobby of polo. He had a tribe of 3,000 men aged between 30 years to 47 years who he had to train to fight; just in case people needed their help. The prince was a great commander and his teaching skill was at the highest level. Many people were very poor and often his troops would go and look after the injured and homeless people as well. His troops would then take them to Panita. She would then cast a spell on them with a magic towel that could heal the sick and injured. She sang “Bring the cloud and blow, heal my friends and tell me what they need.” Then they were well again and had some money to go back to live with their families and friends. One day, on a Sunday afternoon, a neighbouring tribe called the Lanzhou was on the way to attack the Gobi Desert. Geezail gathered all his men to start a two day journey to find them. The women were left behind. Panita hoped for the men to return soon and prayed every single night and morning. The men had been gone for long time. Panita finally asked Fatty to go and search for them. Fatty did so, and returned after a week and said “They are still fighting but Geezail has been hurt and very badly injured. The Lanzhou were very close to killing Geezail, luckily he had a magic ring, which he then smashed on the floor, this made most of The Lanzhou soliders die. Geezail kept on calling your name before he blacked out. You must go to save him. The Lanzhou even stronger soldiers were on the way to join in the battle who fought even harder!” Panita and some of the women of the tribe travelled across the desert to where the Lanzhou were, to fight them and find Geezail. Panita over heard The Lanzhou solider said “Geezail had been outnumbered by them and couldn’t beat them. Geezail and his soldiers had left, back into the desert, some time ago.” The women searched the desert. But they had no luck in finding Geezail. A month, past, Geezail and the soldiers had completely disappeared. After such a long search, Panita realised that she may never see Geezail again, she was heart broken. They trekked across the desert. Just before they reached Gobi territory, they stumbled on foot prints in the sand. The footprints stayed where they were, even though the wind was strong. The women of the Gobi tribe stared at the foot prints in wonder. Panita found them very familiar so she followed them. They followed the footprints through the desert and to a ravine, and through the narrow chasm. Then they came upon a hideous, revolting and wicked wizard. He laughed at the women and told them that he had captured Geezail and the soldiers and imprisoned them. The wizard said to Panita “I am the night, and the most powerful wizard. If you try to rescue them, they will turn to ashes! But only if you give me your pendant and then I will give them to you!” Wizards are never to be trusted! Panita thought. The wizard burst out in more laughter and tried to grab her pendant and said “I can get what I want and that is that!” Panita immediately released her pendant to Fatty and said “get the wizard and turn him be an ice sculpture!” The wizard tried to get Fatty in a booby trap and get the pendant. But Fatty barked loudly with the power of the pendant and his magic. The whole dungeon shook, which Panita and the tribe took Geezail to escape. And the horrible wizard was turned into a frozen sculpture. After that, they rode Geezail quickly to the castle to heal him. She used her pendant and blew cooling breath on him. She said “Bring the cloud and blow, heal my friends and tell me what they need.” Geezail was healed. Panita secretly went to see the wizard sculpture as she wanted to drop him down a sink hole. She did so, and the sinkhole vanished and he was melted. Soon after her return, Panita announced her pregnancy with a baby boy. She named her baby boy “Token”. Token was also born with “Cold’ and “Frost” magic which he doesn’t know about. Thereafter, Panita was crowned as the Queen of Gobi Desert. They lived happily together and forever! A DAY IN THE GOBI DESERT Victoria Shanghai Academy, Calvin Chin, Fiction: Group 2

t the break of dawn on a perfectly sunny day in the Gobi Desert, I was woken up suddenly. It was my boss! He said that he wanted to take me somewhere. I was so deep in my sweet dreams of dates and milk that I couldn’t get up until BossA poured cold water over my body which sent a shiver down my less than perfect spine. I swear, this isn’t my idea of a morning call for duty. Boss pulled me aside and told me that we were going to join the caravan along the Silk Road to trade his stuff. I whined and complained that I hated walking under the hot sun, carrying all his heavy stuff as usual. He just replied, “Shut your mouth, what do you know?” with a wicked grin, and pulled and jerked me across the sands to the waiting caravan. Surprisingly, this time Boss didn’t ask me to bring much, other than a few of his prized Persian carpets. That lifted my spirits, so I was as free as an eagle when I walked alongside him towards the caravan. When we got there, the other servants teased me. They said that I was lazy, not useful for anything at all. But I just ignored them because I knew that they’re just being jealous of my good fortune. There were a lot of strange people with ginormous turbans and colourful costumes who spoke alien languages, with their servants and animals in the caravan. The monkeys were making a racket and the eagles were perching regally on their masters’ shoulders. Some people even brought along dangerous and vicious vipers. And of course, there were the goods; you name it, they had it: mammal tusks, lion fur and even dinosaur bones! I wondered where the caravan was heading this time and how long it would take to reach our destination. We travelled across oceans of sand dunes, with the desert wind doing its magic twirling and shifting the landscape. Suddenly, we stopped and looked in awe at a giant wall in front of us. It looked like an endless snake moving across the horizon, casting a shadow over everything along its path. There were a few guards with spears, bows and arrows looking down at us suspiciously from the many watchtowers. Then one of the servant boys whispered in my ear, “My friend, that is the Great Wall of China.” “What is it for?” I asked. “To keep us out!” the boy shouted. I was confused by what he said. I wonder how many men it took to build such a long wall. “By the way my name is Abu. What’s yours?” Abu asked. “My name is Genghis.” I replied. “I don’t suppose that stood for bravery after the Great Genghis Khan!” Abu giggled. I wasn’t amused with Abu making fun of my namesake, the great warrior who conquered many lands near and far afield. I thought I shouldn’t take Abu seriously, as servant boys are full of mischief, gossips and lies. As the day wore on, the desert sun beat down angrily on me. It felt like my body was being cooked in a hot pot and my feet felt like they were on burning coal. Alas, after what seemed like eternity, we finally reached paradise! It was actually a small watering hole with a few old palm trees. Everyone gulped down whatever this little “oasis” could offer us. As we continued our journey, I was beginning to wonder where we were heading to until Boss patted me on my back and said, “Hey son, we’re going to the Great Gobi Desert Bazaar! Where the streets are paved with gold, and the fountains are flowing with milk and honey!” And straight ahead on the horizon there lies the great bazaar. We could see hundreds of stalls overflowing with goods. There was a sea of merchants and buyers everywhere and even at a distance I could hear the hustle and bustle of people haggling over prices and trading with each other. Suddenly Abu appeared from nowhere and said, “Watch yourself when you enter the bazaar where everything is for sale!” He then disappeared into the crowd. As Boss guided me through the narrow lanes, I struggled to avoid knocking over some oversized pots and vases, placed precariously along the way. I was spat at by some of the mean looking owners, most of whom were chewing some sort of black gum. The narrow lanes suddenly opened up to a crowded big arena. Boss went up to a plump man with a thick untidy moustache and said, “Here is my prize.” Then the man said, “You need to tidy this rascal up.” Boss then did some very unusual things. He checked my teeth and gums and took out a big brush to comb my hair roughly. He suddenly squeezed my jaws and poured a big cup of milk into my mouth, which is strange, as he’s usually very stingy with us servants. He then ushered me into the arena. All eyes seemed to be on me. The plump man walked up to the stage in the middle of the arena and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, what you see in front you is one of a kind! Let me present to you Genghis, the best camel in Mongolia that can breed a thousand other camels, let the bidding begin! Before I could absorb what was going on, a banana hit me right between the eyes. It was Abu. “You stupid camel! Do you want to spend the rest of your life breeding? Run for your life!” So here I am today, a run away camel in the Gobi desert with my young master Abu, occasionally pondering the illusion I had of being a human being. This was sadly shattered when the giant mirror in the bazaar showed the two mega humps on my back! New Tales of the Gobi Desert Victoria Shanghai Academy, Alex Wong, Fiction: Group 2

ell, I don’t have much time to write all the details down, as we’re continuing our journey south. I need to get a head start before the rest of the herd because of my bad leg. Oh! Have I not introduced myself to you yet? I am Hvaitur. This is my story. “Hvaitur, always be careful whenever going out into the Gobi Desert. If it is cold,W come back. If you see a wolf, stay away. They hunt bactrian camels like us.” “I know, I know Mom, you don’t have to say it every time I step out of the herd.” “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” “All right, but be careful!” Suddenly, a freak sandstorm whipped up. As I struggled to find a shelter, a high-pitched wailing started. I saw a wolf pup with his leg caught in a trap. “Oh no, a wolf!” I started recalling all the bad things I’ve been told about wolves. I knew that they traveled in packs and when there was one, there usually were more. I hid behind a rock for protection, but didn’t see any other wolves. When I peeked out, I saw tears coming out of the pup’s eyes and the injury on its leg seemed really bad. I felt sorry for this wolf pup and edged towards him cautiously. “Wow, that looks bad. If you promise to not attack me or summon other wolves, I’ll help you get out of the trap.” I said. “I promise I won’t. Please, help me!” begged the wolf pup. As I smashed the trap, the jaws of the trap scraped my leg, causing a bad injury. “Ow ow ow, I feel like my leg’s on fire!” I shouted as I reacted to the pain flooding my leg. After the pain started to go away, the wolf pup “Thank you! I really owe you my life. I’m very sorry you are hurt. My name is Raliek, by the way.” I responded: “ Mine is Hvaitur. It was nothing. I just wanted to do the right thing.” I watched the wolf pup limp away, then the sandstorm finally quietened and I dragged myself back to my herd. A few months later, our camel herd started to grow hungry. My father said to the rest of the herd: “There is a severe food shortage in this part of the Gobi Desert. We can’t continue to live here. I think we should travel south.” A lot of camels agreed with the idea. There were cries of “I second that!” and “I agree with you!” The next day, our entire herd started moving south to the unclaimed parts of the Gobi Desert. A few weeks into the journey south, we encountered a group of nomads. The nomads were determined to capture us for transport and wool. We fought valiantly to escape, but were lassoed in and subdued. “We don’t need this one, he’s got a leg injury. He’ll be useless. ” One of the nomads said, pointing to me and my crippled leg. The air was filled with the mourning brays of camels as the nomads drove the others into the stables. I was clouded with grief and sadness as my herd was dragged away. I had lost my family and friends, and felt extremely depressed as I staggered into the sand dunes of the Gobi. After wandering around for a few hours, I collapsed on a sand dune. I felt so shattered that I didn’t notice the wolf creeping in on me, nor did I even try to run from him. But, after a short while, I identified the wolf because of its limping gait. “Is that who I think it is...... yes! Raliek!” I shouted. We instantly recognized each other. “ So Hvaitur, why are you so sad?” “ My entire herd has been captured by nomads! Please, may you do me a favor?” “Sure thing, my friend. Now I can pay you back for your favor.” Together, we hatched a plan to break into the nomads’ stables, but we needed more animals for the plan to work. Raliek asked family and friends to assist the rescue, but their responses were negative. “Well, maybe, but I’m not so keen on helping camels.” “Camels are food, not friends!” “ Impossible! That’s suicide!” “Nada, zip, zero. There is no chance I’ll help camels!” However, after Raliek told them about how I had saved him, they finally agreed to help. On the night of the raid, the other wolves created a distraction by howling in front of the nomad’s yurt. The nomads tossed and turned, until they couldn’t bear the noise anymore. “ Who is howling out there!” “I can’t sleep!” “I don’t know about you, but I’m going outside to investigate.” While the nomads angrily marched out to investigate the source of the raucous, assorted howls, Raleik and I silently crept to the stables. Raliek burst through the fabric walls while I reassured the other camels that Raliek was not going to kill us. “Calm down Mom, that wolf is my friend. He is going to help us get free from this place. After Raliek used his sharp teeth to shred the ropes that bound the camels, our herd dashed out the hole in the wall and into the Gobi Desert, free at last. “Ah, to taste the fresh desert air and feel sand under my feet again as I run!” “I have my freedom back!” “It is our right to roam the desert!” As we continue our journey south, we will never forget the favour the wolves did for us. So, this is my story. But, this is only one of the many interesting stories that make up life. Maybe, yours could be one of them too. Still, my story is done, at least for now.... True Love in the Gobi W F Joseph Lee Primary School, Yeung Sin Hang, Fiction: Group 2

here was an old woman standing in front of the grave. It’s raining heavily; however, the lady didn’t care about the rain and looked sadly at the grave. She’s holding a bunch of flowers for long. She didn’t speak a word. Annie, a famous and talented writer in the city, everyone loved her writing. One Tquiet night, she’d a date with her boyfriend, Jack who was an explorer and adventurer. A white limousine stopped at Annie’s front yard. Jack stepped out with a bright smile. Annie was shocked with tons of questions in mind. But, Jack just hushed Annie to get on the limo and asked her to wait patiently. When they arrived at the restaurant, Jack asked, “Well, we’ve been in a relationship for a long time, Annie, would you marry me?” Annie muttered, “Oh my gosh!” She rushed herself to the lady’s room, she talked to herself in front of the mirror, “Relax, just think if you want to spend your life with this man, and the thing is you both love each other. Phew!” She went back to her seat, “My answer is YES!” She hugged Jack tightly. Jack was extremely happy and he told Annie about his plan, “I want you to be the part of my dream.” He continued, “My next exploration is Gobi Desert. Please come with me, Ann.” Annie wasn’t sure but she only wanted to follow the man whom she loved. Before starting their exciting adventure, they had a wonderful wedding party. Annie knew that she’d have no regrets in her life. Jack believed that there were lots of mysteries in the Gobi and he thought he might be able to find something valuable. And, Annie looked forward to having her first visit and she decided to note down what they would be experiencing in the Gobi. One day, she looked through from the telescope, she saw something sparkling on the sand. She shouted loudly, “Jack! I found a golden key! And there is something old like a map too!” Jack rode on the camel hurriedly and said, “It’s interesting. It could be something leading us to the treasure.” They’d already spent more than five months in the Gobi; however, they couldn’t find anything special, they thought the Gobi was spectacular. Both of them had the same spirit to keep finding clues from the old map. Again, they studied the map carefully, suddenly, a strange voice breaking the silence, “Hidden Land.” Jack was shocked, “Ann, did you say anything?” Annie shook her head seriously. Shortly, the whispering voice muttered again, “Hidden Land. I’ll take you to go there.” Annie asked, “Are we having an illusion?” Jack thought positively instead, “Good things may happen.” “I’ll take you to Hidden Land when the sun rises,” the voice whispered into their ears. Annie doubted, “The map will take us to a good place, won’t it?” Jack replied, “Yes, I believe so.” They fell into a deep sleep with lots of hopes in their mind. When Annie woke up, she found that the key and map were not in her pocket. She gasped, “Wait! Are those gray wolves?” She found herself was tied by a chain of rope, she yelled, “Let me go! Jack! Help me!” There was no response, only a pack of wolves were staring at her hungrily. Then, an old man appeared. He held the key and said angrily, “I’ve been here to look for this key and map for ages. The treasure is mine.” Annie grabbed the twig behind her to try to grind the rope. Luckily, the rope was cut and Annie planned to escape quickly. The old man ran to grip Anna’s neck furiously as he saw the loosen rope, but he was tripped over by the rocks. Immediately, Annie ran to her camel. She thought the key wasn’t as important as Jack and she rode off with her camel to find Jack eventually. Annie couldn’t believe that Jack was missing in thin air. She finally reported to the cops, but none of them was able to find Jack. The cops said hopelessly, “I think you should give up! It’s hard to find him in this huge desert.” Annie felt helplessly. Another two years, Jack was still missing. Thirty years later, Annie kept searching Jack with hope. She looked at the carven bracelet which was given by Jack. The camel walked slowly with her, “Please come back, Jack!” She started to sob. When she rested herself on a huge rock, she found something on the yellow sand. She leaned closer to see clearly. Her heart was bouncing in surprise because she remembered that it was Jack’s bracelet with her carved name. She cried sorrowfully and used her walking cane to dig the sand seriously. Finally, she saw the skeleton and there was a ring on the finger. Her heart was filled with sadness. A few hours later, a team of explorers saw Annie sitting next to a dead body, one of them asked, “What happened?” She said speechlessly with tears, “My husband…” The explorer held her hand gently, “Although he’s gone, he’s always in your heart.” After going back to the place where she belonged, she took out the notebook. She read it through with a broken heart. She wanted to write a book about her life. She was crying while she was starting to write. She went to the grave and said, “I’ll always be there for you.” She looked at the pink sky. Even. It’s raining heavily, she didn’t want to leave. Annie died after a few years. Jack smiled at Annie who was at the golden gates and he opened the door for her. He said warmly, “I’ve been waiting for you, my lovely wife.” They lived happily again. A crowd of people bowed in front of Annie’s grave with books in hands, all of them wished she would live pleasantly at the far end of the Rainbow Bridge with Jack. Dreams Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Joyce Cheng, Fiction: Group 2

he sandstorm raged on, the wind swirled above Jerome as he hid in his sandy hole, desperately trying to burst out and help his parents. After a very long time he was able to break free but he could not find his parents. After years of no answers, Jerome accepted that his parents were dead. TJerome’s mind swirled around and a deep voice whispered, “You are trapped in a set of dreams fool! You’ll never be able to escape!” Jerome was haunted by this. He wandered through the forest and knew that an evil spirit must be cursing him. The moonlight shone brightly and the days passed like seconds. No stars twinkled at night. He suddenly heard a strange voice. “Boy, you are trapped in your second dream, there will be three dreams. Find a spear, for the spirits will be defeated. You will have to pass many forests to find it. The sign that you have found the right spear is that there will be a wolf carved on it. It has sapphires for eyes and a ruby on the handle!” Jerome ran as fast as he could. A nearby wolf called for his pack but his piercing blue eyes spotted Jerome. The wolf pack started the hunt and chased the weakling, Jerome. Strange birds circled above Jerome. He tried not to panic. He lay behind a large rock and hid from the hungry pack. He rested under the rock for the long night. Jerome hadn’t slept and eaten for six short days, but five long, windy nights. The next day, he took some sharpened sticks and tried to hunt a small injured bird. He didn’t want to, but his hunger forced him. He hid behind a strange tall object and when the bird hopped closer to him, he pranced out and pierced the bird on the chest. The bird fell and gave a cry of death to his family. Jerome picked the bird up and feasted on it. The night came again and the voice returned. It boomed loudly but kindly ”Great! You have learned to catch small prey, tomorrow try moving objects with your mind. Remember, you’re in a dream, you can do things you can’t do in real life!” After the voice left him, Jerome slept. When the first stream of light reached Jerome, he sprang up and started to hunt for food. The long night dragged hunger to his stomach. He sharpened another wooden stick and saw a graceful hoofed animal grazing. Jerome concentrated and threw the stick with all his force. The animal realised it was coming and galloped away. Jerome threw it again and this time pierced the animal. He was pleased with his success. This animal could reward him with days without eating. Jerome started to eat. By the time he had finished, it was the middle of the night. Jerome hesitated as he felt a claw digging into his arm, he knew that it was the third dream. Jerome woke up sore from head to toe. He felt as if he had been paralyzed. He found himself covered with bruises. He looked at the strange cave he was in. There was no sign of life. Jerome started for the exit as the skeleton of a person was seen. Panting, he staggered into the streams of light. For the first time he enjoyed being shone at by the scorching sunlight. He gave a sigh of relief as nothing wicked happened to him. Days past and the same thing happened every time he woke up. His body ached and he found himself laying down in a strange cave, but every time the cave was different. He always found at least one sign of death there. One foggy morning, Jerome woke up in a familiar house…….. Yes! That must have been his own house. “Jerome! You have been asleep for two whole years! “ shouted his mother, Anne. “Right …… there’s no time for any surprises, I have to leave…...NOW!” With that, Jerome jumped out of bed, his body wasn’t aching anymore. He ran to the first clue the voice had given him……. a forest. He searched the forest, but there was no a weapon. He called for help, but then remembered he was not in a dream anymore. All of a sudden, the man sensed his need, so he spoke again. ”Boy go to a forest that has a huge bird guarding the entrance. You should recognise it because you killed it in your second dream! It has only grown much bigger…… good luck!” Jerome ran out of the forest and searched for the bird. Crack! Jerome had stepped on a twig. He tried not to fall off the perilous slope. Happiness came rushing into Jerome’s heart as he found the slope above was the secret forest. He sneaked behind the huge bird and once the bird was out of Jerome’s sight, he ran for his life. He searched behind bushes and trees, rocks and curved paths, but there was no sign of the spear. He was about to give up when he suddenly saw a sparkle. Hope rushed back into Jerome. He sprinted towards it and saw the spear. He was so pleased and dragged it out of its hiding place. When he took it back home, he heard a faint cry of death and smiled. He had defeated the three evil spirits. Jerome’s parents queried about what had happened and Jerome told them secretly. Unfortunately, there was one more task that he needed to accomplish. The old man called for him and they met in a cold desert. The old man told him that the three evil spirits died right where Jerome was standing. Jerome then called the desert ‘ The Gobi Desert ‘ and it actually meant- cold desert. It kept all the memories of Jerome’s life a secret, and the name is still known today. When Jerome died, the secret still remained in the Gobi Desert, undiscovered. Narrow Escape in Gobi Desert Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Andy Chi, Fiction: Group 2

long time ago, in the time of the great Mongol Empire, lived a cunning Khan. He had many victories over his enemies, which made his rivals hate him more than ever. He conquered over China, Mongolia, most of Asia, and even a part of Europe. This was the largest land empire in human history. He was known throughout the empire as the “mostA powerful and wisest ruler of all time”. However, the khan wasn’t that ‘all-powerful’. He had one unusual weakness: he was highly allergic to the saltwort plants of the Gobi. If by any chance he was fifty centimetres away from any saltwort plants, this would almost cause him serious breathing problems such as asthma. Because of this, the Khan lived in a grand, specially designed yurt and travelled around constantly to avoid enemies on his trail. For safety measures, any ambassadors or guests had to be checked by his guards. The Khan’s rivals always thought they could try to turn the Khan’s weakness into their advantage. By some coincidence, the land where the Khan’s rivals lived was quite near the Salt Region of Gobi desert, which was the place where most saltwort grew. But they could not track down the Khan as he was constantly moving. “I just had a great plan,” said one enemy general to another general. The two generals had gathered together for a serious top-secret discussion on a horribly dry and bright day. “What sort of plan?” asked the other general quizzically. This general was named Alt Ort and was less experienced, but rather cunning. “A rather good one, if I may say so,” sneered general Worto S. No one knew what the ‘S’ stood for. “Our spies have noted that the devilish old man is going to stay at the desert tomorrow night. We can go there disguised as royal ambassadors. I have prepared some special clothes which will make us look like Chinese. We go into the yurt, and when the Khan and his useless guards are unprepared, we take out our saltwort and force the Khan to hand over his throne!” “Excellent plan,” remarked Alt, “This plan is agreed. We shall meet tomorrow at my yurt. Remember our disguises. I’ll take care of the saltwort, and we’ll put our plan into action.” The men saluted and hastily went off. Early next morning, Worto hurried over to Alt’s yurt. They pulled on their disguises and stuffed saltwort in their pockets. “Our spies informed that the Khan has changed course away from the Salt Region,” Alt told Worto as he handed over some powdered saltwort to his companion. Soon, they set off for their journey. On the way, the two evil men passed a saxaul tree. Alt reached up and snapped two large branches off and handed one to Worto. The men squeezed the bark and drank the water dripping out. Then they sat down in the shade and speedily ate a few bulbs of wild onions. “These onions have a peculiar nut flavour,” commented Alt. Late in the afternoon, they finally spotted the Khan’s yurt in the distance. Quickly, the generals hurried over. Worto told the Mongol guards, “We are ambassadors from the great land of, um, China!” The guards watched them with fishy eyes. “All right, ambassadors, let’s check your pockets.” “Hey, what’s this?” the guard checking Alt’s pockets fished out a tiny, glamourously decorated box which contained the saltwort powder. “Well, it… contains some special and precious herbs which, we think, the Khan would like to see!” The guard grew less suspicious. “Hmm. Well, both of you’ll still get to see the Khan. This way,” the guard coughed harshly and led them into the yurt. The Khan was enjoying his ‘suutei tsai’ tea as the men came in. The guard introduced the ‘ambassadors from China’. “… They would like to show you some special herbs,” the guard finished. Glancing at Worto, Alt held out the box as a tribute to the Khan. “We would like to give these herbs to Your Highness as a tribute,” lied Alt. The Khan was confused. “I’ve never seen this kind of herb before in my empire,” he muttered. All of a sudden, the Khan screamed. “ARGH! THEY ARE CARRYING SALTWORT!” The guards leapt into action. Worto yelled, “Don’t move! Or we shall unleash our supreme ‘saltwort weapons’!” “Who on earth do you think you are?” shot back the guards. “I am Worto, S. Worto!” retorted Worto. Alt rolled his eyes at his companion’s silliness. The generals whipped out some more saltwort powder and spread them over the interior of the yurt. Alt blew the powder from the box he had been holding onto the Khan’s face but accidentally slipped on some wet sand. He tumbled backwards through the layer of cloth covering the yurt. “Aww, come on,” Alt groaned. “Wow, Alt,” praised Worto sarcastically as he himself was trying to cover the guard’s faces with saltwort powder. He pulled out a small branch and threw some saltwort powder onto the sand. He set fire to the powder, filling the inside of the yurt with saltwort-scented smoke. “Hope you enjoy our premium ‘saltwort incense’,” sneered Worto. “Ah…AHTISCHOO!” sneezed the Khan. “AHTISCHOO! Ah…Ah...” “How dare you?!” yelled a bearded guard as he scratched his body whilst doing some sort of weird dance. Other guards were doing the same thing. “This is so itchy!” Suddenly, strong hands grabbed the two generals from behind. Alt slipped again, tripping Worto, and the men toppled over each other. “Oww! What was that for?” mumbled Alt beneath Worto. “Take it easy, mate,” said a gruff Mongolian voice. “You’re going to jail.” Reinforcements for the Khan had come! “What?!” whined Alt and Worto in unison. “Better not underestimate the Mongol Army next time,” announced the Khan as he coughed faintly. Unknown to all his enemies, he had produced a secret bottle of saltwort antidote made from saxaul tree roots. He sniggered while he slowly drank it. The Diary of a Jerboa Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Sean Lee, Fiction: Group 2

My name is Jerry. I am a Jerboa from the Gobi Desert. I am a real animal. This is one of my adventures from a long time ago.

On the 2nd of May 2004 there was big sandstorm. I was only 2 years old when I was there with my brother, Sam who was then 5 years old. We were gathering nuts and berries, when in the distance we saw the giant tornado of sand. Sam and I quickly dug a deep hole in the sandy ground and jumped in. We anxiously waited for it to go away. The storm lasted a few hours. We were starving when we got out so we decided to look for food. That was the beginning of my adventure. Sam was worried that Mum and Dad might be concerned because we were gone but he stopped thinking as soon as we reached a little sand village. I quickly scurried up to one of the houses to see if anyone was there, but it turned out no one was there. In fact, the village looked like it had been deserted by the sandstorm. Sam eventually found a house with a small plant growing through the cracks, that could be food. We quickly ate it and continued exploring. After a while it grew dark. The sand looked blue as the moon came up and the temperature grew extremely cold. Sam decided to stop walking and started to wander around looking for shelter. As for me, I was looking around for more food. I became exhausted and decided to give up. When I got back Sam was building a little ditch with leaves on top. “We will camp here tonight and try to make our way back home tomorrow,” said Sam and he quickly fell asleep. The sun came up and the day brightened. Sam and I still had to find a way back home. Yesterday the sand village made me think more about humans. I had never seen one in my whole life. I wanted to know more about them. Then I heard Sam calling my name. When I reached him he was staring wide-eyed at a village. But it wasn’t just an ordinary village. It had people living inside. It was busy also. There were merchants, maids, chefs, traders and many other people that I didn’t recognise. Then all of a sudden one of the traders stopped. He stared at Sam and I. He did not look friendly. Sam froze. He looked very shocked and scared. Then I realised. He was going to kill us. I was ready to run away. Sam was also thinking the same thing. Quickly we made an escape. The trader and a few more people were chasing us now. “Why are they so angry?” I thought to myself as Sam and I scurried up a tree. It made thoughts race around my head. It also made my interest in humans slightly fade. I always had a good sense of curiosity for humans but now all I know is they are mean and cruel. I had once thought maybe one day I will talk to one but that dream was smashed after the great chase I was in just now. Sam was also looking sad but not for the same reason. He had accidently dumped all the berries he found yesterday on the floor while he was being chased. The only thing to do was to get down from the tree and find shelter because it was starting to get dark.

The morning sunlight woke us up. We were huddled under a big coconut that was cut in half. “We had better get going,” said Sam as he carefully peered out of the coconut shell just in case there was someone outside. “Sam, I’m so hungry!” I moaned. “I am also but we lost our food when we ACCIDENTLY dropped it,” said Sam n a nervous way. “No, YOU dropped it. Now because of you we are going to starve to death!” I shouted back. That was when Sam went berserk and he threw himself at me and pushed me down onto the floor. “Stop arguing! We’ll find some food. No problem,” said Sam after he picked himself up from the ground. But there was a bigger problem at hand.

A few feet ahead of us was a little girl from a local Gobi village staring at us. She looked to be about 3 years old, but she looked gigantic compared to us. The little girl had her eyes on me. She was slowly walking toward me. I found myself getting picked up by the girl. “Oh no! Not one of these humans again! This time this one is trying to eat me!” I shouted as I tried to wriggle free from the little girls not-so-big hands. At last I jumped out from the girls hand. I quickly hopped over to where Sam was. I expected the little girl to take out a sharp object and start chasing me but the girl just stood there and took out some berries from her pockets. They were the same ones Sam had dropped yesterday. Sam noticed this, but he grew ferocious. “Give me back my berries you little thief!” screamed Sam. The girl walked over to Sam and dropped the berries in front of him and stared at him as if she wanted him to eat the berries. I was so surprised. What was going on? Yesterday I thought that humans were mean and cruel, but today, I see them trying to help us. The Myth of Jewels Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Helen Liang, Fiction: Group 2

ayla looked out the window of her school as the class dragged on. She started to nod off but a sudden sound woke her. “Kayla! You’re always sleeping in class! They are talking about the trip to the Gobi Desert,” Carla exclaimed. KKayla looked up and grabbed a book with faded gold letters… ‘The Land of Jewels’. She clutched it tightly and the sides of her mouth went up. The plane landed and the girls were amazed by the stunning scenery. They headed straight to the hotel. “Tomorrow we start looking…” Kayla whispered. There was no reply. Carla was fast asleep. Kayla headed out with Carla early the next morning, like the morning birds, before anyone else awoke. All that met their eyes was sand. “How are we going to find the entrance to the Land of Jewels?” complained Carla. They wandered for hours, hoping to find a clue to the sacred land. After some time, the girls became thirsty. They had run out of water, but fortunately they stumbled upon a waterfall, and not caring about their surroundings as they lunged to drink. The waterfall was surrounded by rocks with millions of jewels. It went straight into the ground. Kayla yelled down, “Hello?“ She was suddenly pushed into the hole. “The entrance to The Land of Jewels!“ Carla yelled. Kayla and Carla found themselves in a river and started walking. After some time, and some hardships, they reached the Land of Jewels… Every part of the place was built with jewels. There were even jewel berries and plants! A week passed and Kayla started to feel uncomfortable about living in a place she hardly knew. “I think we should leave…“ Kayla suggested “No! It’s perfect here! I’m not leaving!“ Carla complained. Kayla didn’t listen to her friend. She headed out to find a way. Every time she asked she was answered with the same words: Ask the old man. It seemed like the old man lived in a small hut near the forest. Kayla went searching. When Kayla arrived at the little hut she noted that the house was not built with jewels. She knocked and a man welcomed her in. “Old man, do you know how to get out of this place? Something feels wrong…” Kayla said. “Something has always been wrong. This place has a curse. The king made anyone that has lived here for more than a month go crazy and stay here, forever. You can break the curse by finding the blue and white flower in the back of the king’s garden. Take this note as well, and give it to my wife who sits on a rocking chair in the garden. Tell her I love her…” “Of course. Thank you! I’ll be off.“ Kayla headed back towards Carla, hoping to convince her to come. “No! I will not! Never!“ Wailed Carla. “You have to! You’re already under the horrible curse!“ Kayla insisted. “What? A curse?“ “You’ll go crazy if you stay here so let’s go!“ “I’m coming!“ Carla caught up to Kayla and they ran towards the king’s castle. “Halt! Who are you?“ A guard bellowed. “We’re here to break the curse!“ Carla blurted. She slapped her hand on her mouth but it was too late, they were going to the dungeons! “From the old man? I see… I’m the old man’s son, I will help you. Find the young boy inside, he will lead you to the garden.” “Yes!“ They ran inside and met a boy with blue eyes. “You must be the boy.“ Kayla’s eyes darted around “Boy?“ The boy frowned. “Guard.“ “My name’s Ethan, follow me.“ The girls followed Ethan to the garden. The flowers were beautiful but one caught Kayla’s eyes, the blue and white one. A lady rocked back and forth, never smiling or changing her expression. “You must be the lady.“ There was no reply, “Here“ The lady stopped and smiled, then kept on rocking. Carla picked the flower and a rumbling sound rushed into their ears. “Someone is stealing the cure! Get them!“ a voice boomed. They ran for their lives! They ran into a huge room with multiple doorways but guards burst through each one. They were cornered! Kayla’s eyes darted around. She grabbed the flower and clutched it tightly. The girls were petrified but a sound rang out. It sounded like millions of animals… Elephants, birds, tigers, all kinds of animals flooded into the room. They ran around and stampeded on everyone but Kayla, Carla and Ethan. Thinking quickly, the group ran outside and continued until they arrived at the old man’s hut. “Hurry, hurry! We must go now!“ the old man yelled, “Oh flower, oh flower break the curse with your cure!“ The ground rumbled and broke as Kayla’s knees shook. They ran outside and met the old man’s son, They exchanged glances and ran off, coming back with a boat. “Come on! We must go to the river!“ Kayla yelled. Kayla, Carla and Ethan together hauled the boat to the river and hopped in. “One, two, three push!“ The son shouted. Rumble, rumble! “It’s an earthquake! Hurry!“ Kayla stammered. “When the curse is broken, this place will fall…“ The old man said. They travelled down the river at an alarming speed and disappeared into a dark cavern. Kayla could still hear the roaring shouts of the king. Kaya looked back and closed her eyes, drifting off into sleep. “Kayla! Wake up!“ shouted Ethan. She opened her eyes and found herself back in the Gobi desert. Much sand lay before her. “We have been almost gone for a month!“ Kayla cried. After those words she heard people shouting her name in the distance. “I’m here!“ She swallowed. Her mother, father and some policemen approached her. “Mum, Dad!“ Kayla wept as she jumped into her parent’s arms. “Where have you been?” Kayla’s mum said. Kayla reached inside her backpack to find ‘The Land of Jewels‘. “It’s gone!“ Kayla exclaimed. The Stone That Saved China Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Michelle Lo, Fiction: Group 2

n ancient times, during the Song Dynasty, there lived a Chinese man called Brother Bi. Brother Bi was a General. He was strong and muscular, but he was also arrogant and boastful. He was also slightly gullible, although he never showed it. One night, Bi was patrolling the Forbidden City when he heard a rustle. “Reveal Iyourself!” shouted Bi, drawing his sword. A stranger stepped out of the shadows. “No need to use that sword,” the stranger said smoothly. He reached into his black cloak and showed Bi a heavy silk pouch. “See this? This pouch is filled with enough gold for you to buy your own estate. You’re so brave, strong and kindhearted, why don’t you let me into the palace and I’ll give you the gold.” Bi took the gold happily and opened the gates as the stranger swept past. The next morning, Bi woke up to a cry. “The Emperor! He’s dead! Murder! Treachery!” Bi leapt out of bed, his heart sinking. He rushed to the scene, where the emperor lay sprawled across the floor, covered in blood, his silk robes torn and a dagger stuck in his back. Bi gasped in horror, his mind whirling. Did I kill the emperor by letting that stranger in? he wondered. He couldn’t tell anyone, or he’d lose everything- his job, his wealth, his pride, and his life. Several days passed before Bi attended the emperor’s funeral. Everyone was clothed in white mourning robes, and it was a somber, gloomy occasion. No one spoke as the Emperor’s body was lowered into the grave. Bi bowed his head in prayer, and stayed by the shrine until everyone had left. He prayed to the spirits. “What can I do?” he asked them. “General!” The deep voice startled Bi in mid-prayer. Bi looked up in terror and almost fainted. There, by the tombstone, was the spirit of the Emperor, speaking to him! Help! thought Bi. He couldn’t bear to face the Emperor’s soul, let alone talk to it. “I know you let that Mongol spy in,” said the Emperor sternly. “I-I had n-no idea he w-was a M-mongol spy! H-how can I redeem myself, Your Highness?” stammered General Bi. He gulped. “As well as murdering me, the Mongol spy took the magical gemstone that has been passed through my family for generations. This stone can protect all of China from its enemies. Bring me the stone, and China will be safe once more.” “But how will I find it?” The spirit began to speak in low, rhythmic tones. “The man with the straw hat will save us all, Look where the dragon lives on the wall. He will wear on his feet sandals of wood, Answer this riddle and you will do good.” The Emperor’s spirit vanished, leaving General Bi puzzled. He wandered around town, talking to farmers and looking for men with straw hats and wooden sandals. Of course he found out nothing. After several hours, Bi was tired from walking and decided to stop for some tea to refresh his mind. He went to the Tea House, and it suddenly dawned on him that he had found what he was looking for. “Of course! ‘Tea’ (茶) has the characters of straw, man, and wood combined. So the stone should be hidden in the Tea House!” Bi entered the Tea House and breathed in the fragrant smell of jasmine tea. He looked around the spacious room, and spotted a picture of a dragon hanging on the wall. Bi moved the painting aside and found a secret compartment. Inside, wrapped in a bundle of cloth, was the magical stone! Bi unwrapped the stone and stared at it in amazement. The precious stone was the colour of jade, and it was shaped like a dragon head. He took the stone and slipped it into his pocket. He ran to the shrine of the Emperor and kneeled. He said, “Emperor, I have brought you the gemstone! What should I do now?” The spirit of the Emperor appeared in front of him. “Well done, General. Now, there’s no time to lose. The Mongols are approaching fast and they must be delayed. Tell me, are you willing to sacrifice yourself to protect your country?” Bi thought for a moment. If I sacrifice myself, I won’t be a General anymore. For a second, he was torn between selfishness and courage, but Bi finally decided that being a General wasn’t everything in China. “Yes,” he said firmly. “Anything for my country!” The moment he said these words, the stone glowed bright green. The General was swept to Southwest Mongolia, where the stone transformed him into a vast wall of sand. The Mongols were suddenly facing a gigantic desert, and were delayed in invading China, giving the Chinese more time to prepare their armies. The Gobi Desert is called Gobi, in honour of gē bí , which is Brother Bi’s name in Chinese. It also means Brother of Wall, which is true as well, since the desert protected China from the Mongols, just like the Great Wall of China. And somewhere, buried in the sand dunes of the great Gobi Desert, is the precious jade gemstone that saved China. The Sand Dragon Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Lina Luedi, Fiction: Group 2

want to tell you about a magnificent thing I’ve heard of. It had a long stretched history and an amazing story. The story comes from Mongolia, where my friend comes from. His mother used to tell him this story about an amazing dragon that swept through the land. It devoured everything it came across that was not fit to survive. IIt was born when the Pangaea started, the continents started shifting and the rocks were crushed into other little rocks and made into sand. The sand finally settled down in a nice area where it would stay for the next million years. When the animals started evolving, the sand was still there, waiting for the animals to come before it engulfs them with its huge monstrous mouth. The animals started moving into the land and one by one, each of them getting devoured until some started to adapt and could withstand the mighty waves of sand. The dragon tried hard to get them, but they adapted stronger legs and could withstand the sand. Finally the dragon gave up and disappeared into the air. As the dragon slept, it did not realize that the humans had been born and more and more the humans grew. When the dragon awoke it realized that there was something slowly treading along. The human froze as he saw the huge wave of sand coming towards him. Sadly, the dragon devoured the human, and the all the human started fearing it. They called it many names, the sand devourer, the sand god, Giant sand snake but the one they all used was the Sand Dragon. They dragon liked being worshipped and praised as a god. The humans would offer him sacrifices like buffalo and lamb to make him happy. In return the dragon would not devour them and their flocks. As the years went by, the humans started getting more intelligent and as about 2000 years went by nobody worshipped him anymore. The dragon was furious and started to devour everything again, but no one worshipped him again. The dragon was lonely now, with no one to offer it sacrifices or hang around with even when they don’t know he’s there. So the dragon spent a few 1000 more years lonely, with nothing to do or eat or even just something to engulf. It tried many times to try engulfing an animal, but they were just to adapted to the environment. 5000 years later, a human discovered the dragon and reported it to the world as breaking news. Many people had come to see the magnificent dragon. Once again the dragon was sort of worshipped and visited by many people and this time admired and not feared. Humans all over the world came to see the dragon and its wonders. The dragon didn’t fell lonely anymore and offered a wonderful experience to new comers and is still here today. I bet most of you are thinking what is this magical dragon and where is it? Or this is just a piece of junk; there is no such thing as dragons. Well if you just use your imagination, I bet you can actually see the amazing Gobi desert as the magnificent dragon you read about in this story. They are giving us what we lost and what we need. “How can this be so”. I thought. February rolled around, and we finally reached our home. Mum and Dad were so happy to see us again. It was so nice being home and I guess only another adventure will help me to answer my question of whether humans are nice or cruel. The Defeat of Yan Long Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Lachlan Savonoff, Fiction: Group 2

Once every 3 years, In the Gobi Desert. The sun turns a crimson colour, Yan Long is on the prowl. Far off there is a howl , You know he has taken a beloved one. If you venture near, Remember each darkness has a weakness.

I have the most interesting story to tell. A story of bravery, relationships and technology. A great forefather from the year 2014, Ren Song, recently visited a small village on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert in his time machine. The year was then 3094, where hovercrafts, time machines, and teleportation were part of everyday life. Ren Song was amazed to see that this sort of technology was common. You see, when Ren invented his time machine, he was a loner in this field. He invented the machine secretly in his basement. When Ren arrived, he met there a family that consisted of a Dad, Mum, and twin boys who were 17 years old. The family quarreled all the time but they stuck together in times of crisis. Ren noted quickly that the two brothers, John and Luke were dead competitive. There was an annual competition where partners competed against each other for the bravest act of the year. Now the brothers always tried desperately and were eager to win but never had. One of the rules of the competition was that you had to have proof of the brave act, so the brothers held conference to combine their forces to win. One day their Mum and Dad went to tend their farm. As soon as they stepped out the door there was a ferocious sandstorm and a wind like a dog howling for the dead, magnified by a million surround speakers, swept them up and they were lost in the desert. John and Luke were GOBSMACKED! They just saw their parents as tiny specks as if they were grains of sand. All of a sudden it stopped, as if it were a curse meant for their parents. “What do we do now?” queried John. “I haven’t the faintest idea,” wailed Luke. This then was their test of bravery. To journey into the unknown parts of the Gobi Desert in search of their parents. Slowly, slowly one step at a time they ventured out into the perilous desert leaving Ren Song to care for the farm. They searched high and low, but to no avail. At sunset of the 3rd week, John looked up and gazed into the sky. He suddenly called for Luke as the sun turned a crimson blood-red colour. Luke whispered, “What is that squiggly dragon? And who is that riding on its back?” John and Luke ran with all their might towards the dragon Yan Long. A cave appeared before them. It was so complex and completely rigged up with even more advanced technology than theirs, and most people perished trying to get their beloved back. There were 4 gates with riddles above them, and each answer unlocked every gate. They came to the first gate which looked like it was made of very weak wood, but turned invisible when you touched it. The riddle was “How many sides does a bubble have?” John thought it over but nothing came to him. Luke joked aloud,“ Hah it is 2, the inside and outside!” John pondered on what Luke said and suddenly exclaimed, “You are a genius Luke!” They typed the answer in on a keyboard. They entered the gate. The second gate was made of the strongest wood in the world and the riddle was, “What goes up and doesn’t come back down?” John and Luke thought so hard their brains almost burst. Luckily John typed in, “Your age,” as a guess. He never thought it would be right. The gate rose up slowly, creaking all the way. The third gate was made of poisonous mercury which slowly moved to surround you as you stood before it. The riddle was, “What belongs to you, but is used by others way more than you?” Luke immediately started talking, “ What do you think John? Have you got a clue John? Are you even listening John? “A person never calls himself his own name!” interrupted John. This time Luke typed it in just in time! The door slid open. The final door was made of tungsten, the strongest metal in the world. The last riddle was, “ It has been around for millions of years, but is not more than a month old.” It was the toughest they had come up against. They sat and pondered then Luke, the impatient one, announced that he gave up. “It’s too hard. We’ll never get it. How long have we been here?” Luke complained. All of a sudden John shouted, “The MOON!” He typed it in lightning speed. Instantly the door opened and as they stepped in they were greeted by the foul breath of Yan Long. Meanwhile their parents were tied up and looking terrified. Yan Long whipped around them all in a frenzy, forming a ring of fire. They were trapped: there was no way out! Inside the ring they all faced the dragon. “Quickly, we’ll use the dragon-fruit to lure him into the time machine, and we’ll send him back to the beginning of time,” shouted the twins in unison. Yan Long was driven crazy for the fruit and dashed towards the time machine. Together, Luke and John shoved Yan Long in, and sent him back in time. Now how could they get out safely? At that moment, Ren Song appeared in a teleporter- they were saved! The whole family jumped in, and on the way John also grabbed a piece of Dragon Fruit: the fruit only dragons ate and could find. They went straight to the competition, everyone rejoiced to see their parents had been rescued, and the twins presented the dragon fruit as their proof of their brave quest to save their parents and defeat the legendary Yan Long. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Barnabas Tam, Fiction: Group 2

am a camel. This is a journal of my life in December the first, 2013, until January the twelfth, 2999. I am a camel living with a couple that are both archeologists. They have two sons, and are now digging for fossilized dinosaurs and their eggs with their sons in China’s Gobi IDesert. Their two daughters are watching Liverpool versus Chelsea on TV back home in England. The couple and the sons set up a camp, sat down, then they ate their dinner and gave me mine too, don’t you think camels don’t eat!!! They tied me up onto the post that holds the camp up, got into a jeep, and set off. As soon as I was out of their sight, I bit the rope that was tying me to the camp so it broke, and then wandered off into the wild. It took me a long time to reach my destination, my birth place. I am here, but not quick enough to save it from those murderous humans turning it into some stupid thing called the “Jurassic Park”. I shout at one of the workers “Stop it!! Stop it, you foul being!!” But he ignores me. I spit at him, but I miss, so I do the last trick up my sleeve: and that is to stomp on him. I know that is cruel, but I can’t bear to see them hurting my ancestors. I think I broke his skull, because he was dead after five minutes, but in the time when he was still alive, he was still swearing and pointing his middle finger at me. I stomped on one more, his reaction was the same, so I stomped on another and another and another and another until the whole place was a bloody battlefield. Finally, after all the killing, I went into the “Jurassic Park” thingy and found out there were lots of camels being took care of very well!!! There were even signs praising them saying they are gentle. Wait, what??? It says: Gentle new dinosaurs discovered!!! They are called Camelsaurus. What an insult!!! I change the notices to: They are camels, exactly the same as me!!! The crazed humans finally understood my message. They quickly took the signs off and built an all-new mating ground for camels. When it finished, they moved all the camels there. Even I mated there. I wandered blindly across the desert, occasionally even bumping into cactuses, until finally, I bumped into something. It was not a cactus, nor another camel. I look up, and there, in front of my eyes is my owner himself holding an unfossilized dinosaur egg!!! After what seemed like a day but is actually a minute, it started shaking, then cracking, then… It hatched into a baby male Tyrannosaurus!!! After a few seconds, news reporters of different continents and countries came rushing in. They started filming and taking photos. After a few minutes, every TV in the world turned on and showed a live video of the dinosaur, the couple and me. Back home in England, the football screen turned into the dinosaur scene also. When it appeared, the two daughters just stared straight at it. After about five minutes, the elder one said suspiciously “That man looks like dad!!!” Then the younger one noticed it also and exclaimed “And that woman looks like mum, that camel also looks like ours, and they look like they’ve found a baby tyrannosaurus!!!” So they booked a ticket to go to the Gobi Desert. When they arrived, they found their mum, dad, me and the two sons already waiting for them! We exchanged kisses, but in my case, I can’t kiss, so I spat. We were very happy and after that, we never needed to work anymore, because people are willing to pay a million dollars just to take a look at our pet tyrannosaurus. All the work we have to do is to feed meat to our pet dinosaur. After a few years, we went to the Gobi Desert again, and we found yet another dinosaur egg, although it was already fossilized. We used our new unfossilizing technology—after all, it’s January first 2999 now, and I’m already 1034 years old, so we have technology far exceeding the technology of the old days. We waited and waited and waited and waited and waited until the egg hatched. It seemed like one year had passed when it hatched, but it was only one day. Finally, the moment came, we all held our breaths as a baby female Tyrannosaurus came out. We used our quick grow potion on it and it quickly became the same size as our other 986 year old Tyrannosaurus. We came back home and made them breed, and we formed a museum called the Clever Camel Dinosaur Museum with all our dinosaurs there. There, I will become very rich and us camels will rule the world!!!! Sam’s Adventure in Gobi Desert Ying Wa Primary School, Hsiao Yau Kit Kyle, Fiction: Group 2

am, an American air-force soldier, wondered in the Gobi Desert in China. The Gobi Desert was hot and dry like hell. It was located in southern Mongolia and northwestern China. It belonged to the Mongol Empire. Fifty years ago, Sam was a pilot who flew a fighter jet. While he was piloting the Sjet, he realized that the engine had broken down. He pressed the parachute button and left the exploding jet. He was in Gobi Desert. One day later, he felt very thirsty and hungry. He could not do anything to help himself. There was no sight of human anywhere. He thought he would die there. Sam walked for days. He started to feel ache from every part of his body. A dramatic sand storm came towards him. It was so strong that some cactus was blown away. He used his helmet to cover his face. He looked for a hiding place for his safety. He has encountered the worst. He stepped into a sudden quick sand trap. He thought he would end his life but he grabbed tight on a tree, “Ouch!” He was stung by the thorns but he survived fortunately. Sam wondered around for thirteen hours. He saw a golden palace. It was not an illusion but a real palace. He went into it and found there was a red skinned person sitting on a throne. He must be the king. Sam said, “Please your majesty, can I stay and have some food please?” The king didn’t understand English. The translator right behind the king translated it. The king nodded and told the soldier to give some food and a room for Sam. He thanked the king and followed the solider to his room. Meanwhile, the king found Sam dropped a treasure map. He came with a greedy and cruel desire. He wanted to have all the gold and jewelry, so he decided to kill Sam, by letting the giant poisonous spider kill him. After Sam noticed the king wanted to kill him, Sam must escape. He used his powerful hands and pushed the locked door open. Fortunately, he ran faster than the spider and the soldiers. He crossed the throne and asked the king, “Why did you need to kill me?” The king told Sam it was because he saw Sam’s treasure map and he wanted all the treasure. Sam protested, “It was just an ordinary painting, and it isn’t real.” The king said, “Then prove it, there is a palace, a water fall, a cave around here, it must be real, liar.” So Sam led them to look for the treasure. Sam estimated the trip would last more than a year because they must go through the land of cannibalisms. They started their trip by riding on camels; they brought food and their weapons. Sam bought his Winchester M1887 shot gun, which he had brought with him. Three months later, they went past a lake, they had left the desert. They were exhausted. They decided to stay for two days. At night, a humongous cobra poisoned one third of the crew. The crews were forced to leave. Four months later, they were attacked by cruel baboons. As they struggled to survive, no one died. Six months later, they met a troll. The one eyed troll suggested if he won the war, he would eat all of the crew. Sam went first to challenge him, he used a stone from the ground and threw it into his eye. He killed him easily, when the troll fell down, he landed on top of a man. The land shook so severely that they felt like earth quake. It was already one year since Sam was in the desert. He and the others were at the land of cannibalisms. They sneaked past them, but they had good eyesight. They chased the crew. They had a bloody fight. The crew killed all the cannibalisms but the two survived, Sam and the king. They found the cave, Sam did not believe the painting became true, he shouted, “Open sesame!” The cave door opened and glittering gold shone on both of their eyes. They were amazed. The king rushed to put treasures in the bags. It was heavy as tons of elephants, the king shouted, “What a place, it looks like heave.” The king was enchanted by the gold, while Sam realized the cave door would be closed soon, He shouted to the king, “Quick, the door is closing, we must leave!” The king did not listen, Sam slide under the door leaving the king in the cave. Three years later, a helicopter hovered over Gobi Desert. The pilot saw the “SOS” sign written by Sam. It landed in front of Sam. The pilot said, “Where are you going and what are you doing here?” Sam replied, “It was a long story, I want to go to the United States air force in Texas.” They arrived there in two days. The commander said to Sam, “Well done, Sam. You have been lost in the Gobi Desert for four years. As you are still alive, I would like to congratulate you by prompting you.” Sam becomes the vice commander of Texas United States Air Force. New Tales of the Gobi Desert Ying Wa Primary School, Lai Wing Chun James, Fiction: Group 2

I opened my eyes. I felt for the first thing I felt every single day--pain. But this time, I didn’t feel it. “A miracle! Did the wound I got from fighting with a snow leopard finally heal?” I thought. But before I knew the answer to that, I heard the fearsome growl of a snow leopard that nearly made me deaf. My name is Max, 25, adventurer and explorer (and an orphan) and this is my first trip at the Gobi Desert. As for my last name, don’t ask me. I don’t even know it myself. But, I vow to find out about my family. Okay, back to the snow leopard. The growl alerted me to prepare for battle. Instantly, I took out my deadly dagger. The nanosecond the snow leopard appeared in front of my eyes, I tried to stab it with my dagger without a bit of hesitation. But before I knew it, someone attacked me first. “Clang!!!”The sound of “dagger-fighting” roamed through the Gobi Desert. It stopped. “Who are you?” I asked loudly, trying to act scary. The “intruder” said, “Adam White. This is my pet, Rover. Who are YOU?” I told him everything I knew about myself. I figured that out he never knew his parents too. Well, at least he’s got pictures He invited me to his cave. In his cave, I saw a picture—a drawing of a young woman. She looked strangely familiar. This made me extremely inquisitive. “Is that your mother?” I asked. “Yes,” Adam replied. “I wish I knew more about her.” That made feel that we have a bond as I think of that every single day. We travelled around Gobi Desert without many problems with Rover as our guardian. But, when we were climbing on a mountain Adam accidentally slipped off a mountain unexpectedly. “No!” I exclaimed. “No…”Adam was my only friend. What about Rover? Who’s going to take care of him? Rover gave me a look that said, “What’s going to happen to him?” He looked really worried. “Adam…”I spluttered. “Adam’s dead.” Little did they know that there was a young man named Adam White who survived a fall walking in the lands of Gobi Desert… “They must think I’m dead.” thought Adam. He was walking slowly through the Eastern Gobi desert steppe eco region, home to the Bactrian camel and many other animals. He only had 3 buckets of clean, drinkable water left. He needed to find clean, drinkable water as soon as possible or he will die out of thirst pretty soon. “It has been a long time since I met Rover, eh?” he thought. Unexpectedly, an anonymous old man ran extremely fast towards him and whacked Adam on the head. Adam blacked out. Max patted Rover on the back. “I’m sorry buddy, but Adam is gone. Forever.” Just as Max was rubbing Rover’s cheeks, he felt something hard, something deadly. Something fishy was going on. Adam woke up in a very beautiful room. He looked around the room. He saw many gold and silver. He even saw fur coat! (which was not really made out of fur) He felt like a rich person. “Where am I?” he thought. Suddenly, the old man that whacked him on the head opened the door and answered him, as if he was a mind reader. “You’re home, son.” “What?” Adam exclaimed. He didn’t know a thing about what this old man was talking about. “Who are you?” Adam asked. “Why did you whack me on the head?” Suddenly, the old man tore off his beard, moustache and white hair. It was a disguise. The old man wasn’t an old man anymore. He was a very handsome man, who’s at his 50s. “Adam,” the man said. “I am your father.” Max was focusing on his friend’s pet snow leopard, Rover. It just didn’t feel right. He thought he felt steel under Rover’s fur. Suddenly, Rover’s eyes grew red. His eyes were glowing red. As it was starting to get dark, the eerie glow of Rover’s eyes was becoming the only light that the people can see. Suddenly, a voice came out from Rover, “WARNING: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION!!!!!” Then, Rover’s eyes turned blue. He started to talk, “Hello Max. I am your grandfather.” “And then your grandfather got the body of a snow leopard. But, as he is half robotic, things didn’t go very well. Your grandfather went out of control and escaped from our lab. Fortunately, his brain and his heart and other important organs are still human.” Just then, Max and “Rover” arrived. “I know, Dad. I know. Adam is my brother.” And they had their first and happiest family reunion ever. Steve and the Jade Crown Ying Wa Primary School, WWv Leung, Fiction: Group 2

n alarm went off, and broke the silence of the chilly morning in the Gobi desert. Stretching his hand out from his sleeping bag, Steve hushed the alarm clock with a “click!” Although he was sleepy, the allure of fantastic discoveries energized him enough to clamber out of bed. He went to his mirror to comb his Asandy-colored hair, then changed his clothes and opened the entrance of his small tent. It was another beautiful morning in the Gobi desert. The vast desert had only sand, sand and more sand, without a sign of life anywhere. Steve was an archeologist who came to the Gobi desert in search of dinosaur egg fossils, but he had no such luck, even after exploring for months! Steve collected his tools and set off for his worksite. Steve dug at all the possible places fossils might be, but still nothing surfaced! At noon, after he quickly gobbled down his sandwich, he picked up his pickaxe again to dig around a rock under the sand. Suddenly, he was startled by footsteps from behind. Steve whirled around to see a man with a golf club raised above his head. Just as Steve began to say, “What—” He saw the man swing the golf club at his head and then everything went black. Steve slowly woke up to find himself in a dark chamber, with a splitting headache. He murmured, “Uh, where...am I?” A voice hissed from behind Steve, “Welcome to the Viper’s Pit!” Steve turned his head to see a sinister lean man with reptilian looking eyes behind him. Steve tried to back off, but he realized his hands were tied behind the chair he was sitting on. Steve said, “Who are you and what do you want from me?” The man laughed and said, “Oh! I am professor Viper, and as for what I want…” Professor Viper snapped his fingers’ and a guard held a hologram projector in front of Steve. The hologram hummed to life, and Steve saw a hologram of a green crown. It was dark green, with carvings. Professor Viper said, “Amazing isn’t it? The Jade Crown! It belonged to a queen of tang dynasty. She hid it around a cave in Inner Mongolia. It’s so well kept! Probably worth 24 million.” Steve gaped at the amazing price. Suddenly, Professor Viper grabbed Steve’s shirt by the collar and bellowed, “Where is it? Tell me!” Poor Steve stammered, “I… I don’t know! I… I swear!” The professor sighed and said, “Very well then! Guard, execution!” After speaking, Professor Viper left the dark room. The guard lifted his handgun and aimed it at Steve. Steve suddenly stood up with his chair tied to his hands! He whirled around and used the back of his chair and knocked the gun out of the guard’s hand. Then, the guard brandished his knife and slashed it at Steve. Steve turned around to let the blade cut through the rope tying his hands together. With his hands free Steve lifted the chair and smashed it on the guard. The force was so strong that the guard immediately got knocked out! Steve tossed away the chair, grabbed the gun and bolted for the nearest exit. After running through tunnels and underground passageways, Steve finally left the Viper’s Pit. He didn’t look back until he was at least a mile away from the Viper’s Pit. When he looked closely he realized Professor Viper’s hideout lived up to its name. It was a shallow, wide hole that did look like a Central Asian Pit Viper’s nest. Steve turned and started searching for his camp… aimlessly. He only knew he was heading west. He walked and walked, hoping to see something useful, like his worksite. After seeing a few bushes, camels and ibexes, Steve caught a glimpse of something like a hole in the distance. As he went closer, he started to have an idea of what it was. Finally he said, “Is that… aha! It’s my old worksite! Yippee!” Steve changed his worksite many times because he never found much. Steve circled the old worksite again and again, until he finally remembered the place of his tent and said, “Oh yes! I remember now!” He looked at the sun, checked the time and turned towards northwest. But he slipped and fell down into the worksite, and he was knocked out the second time that day… By the time Steve woke up, it was already night-time, with the moon high in the sky. He murmured, “Why do I have to be knocked out so many times today?” He slowly sat up, his head still feeling dizzy and wobbly from the fall. When he opened his eyes, he saw something green sticking out of the dry desert sand! Steve wondered, “Could that be…” He dug at the sand around the green, to reveal a green crown! He remembered what Professor Viper said and shouted with delight, “I can sell this to the museum and earn so much money!” Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Steve, making him turn around. Then, Steve realized it was Professor Viper grinning down at him! Steve grabbed the crown, turned and scrambled up the wall of the worksite and started running. The mad professor started chasing him, yelling “Stop!” Steve fished the handgun he picked up earlier out of his pocket and shot it at Professor Viper’s thigh. But amazingly, the mad professor kept his speed, chasing after Steve! The two ran for miles and miles, until Steve was cornered at the edge of a cliff. Steve said, “Don’t come! Or else I’ll drop the crown down the ravine!” Still, the mad professor lunged at him and snatched the crown! Steve shouted, “No!” Steve watched in horror as Professor Viper slipped over the edge and fell down the ravine with the Jade Crown forever… New Tales of the Gobi Desert Ying Wa Primary School, Jason Siu, Fiction: Group 2

ar on the steppes of Mongolia lived a very poor family. They were nomads of the Gobi Desert. Mr. Zaya had a small piece of farmland. His wife worked on the field with him every day. Their skin was tanned and dried by the burning hot rays of the Gobi sun. They had no children but a faithful camel, Woody. FThe land stayed thin and there were less and less grassland due to desertification. Mr. Zaya wanted to find ways to resolve the problem. “Our food is depleting. It’s time to protect our homeland. The desert seems to be engulfing our land. Let’s plant ten trees each day as a barrier to stop its invasion,” suggested Mr. Zaya. “Sure, Zaya! I’m always ready to help,” agreed Mrs. Zaya. From then on, the family planted ten trees each day after they had finished working on their farmland. One day, a new neighbor came. He was called Mr. Greed. Mr. Greed was the boss of a gold- mining company. He came to the Gobi Desert to develop his mining industry. He brought a team of experts and miners to the desert. He accommodated them in hostels built near the Zaya’s family. Once he passed by Mr. Zaya’s tree barriers while the family were busy planting trees. “Hi, guys! What’re you doing here?” Mr. Greed asked the family in astonishment. “Hi! How do you do? We’re the Zaya’s family. We have been living here for generations. However, the desert has been expanding at an alarming rate. We’re now planting trees to make a tree barrier to slow down the expansion,” replied Mr. Zaya. “You said you want to stop desertification just by both of you? Are you kidding? I bet it should be a failure!” said Mr. Greed with a scornful tone. He snorted and laughed at them and kicked their camel, Woody. Woody was very annoyed and burped at him. “You filthy bad-breath nuisance!” barked Mr. Greed at Woody and turned to the family, “Your trees are blocking my mines. My miners will cut them down one by one!” However, Mr. Greed’s words didn’t affect the family’s enthusiasm. Day by day, they worked on the tree barrier. Although the sun’s strong rays beat down on their skin and sweat rolled down their cheeks like pearls, they didn’t give up. One Sunday morning, Mr. Greed set off to the workers’ hostels. He has planned to bring a team of miners to destroy the tree barrier for the expansion of his mines. On his way to the hostels, he wished to check the progress of mining work. He walked close to one of his mines. At that very moment, he heard some bizarre sound. Something is howling. A sense of terror went through his nerves. “Is it a…” muttered Mr. Greed in a trembling voice. Before he could react, a dust storm came. The whole sky was overcast with dust and sand. The wind was especially strong around the mines as there were nearly no plants and the sand was loose. Mr. Greed wanted to grasp the trees in the tree barriers but it was 400 meters away. He staggered towards the trees but it was too late. He fell into his mine! “Help…help!” shouted Mr. Greed non-stop at the peak of his voice but nobody answered. He was shocked, desperate and exhausted. He fainted. The storm calmed down and it was time for the fierce sun to be on duty. Woody came by. He was exploring some loosened grass uprooted by the storm. He walked past a mine and urinated into it. “What’s that?” asked Mr. Greed after he was awakened by some liquid. He tasted the liquid as he was terribly thirsty. “Horrible!” screamed Mr. Greed in annoyance. He looked up to the opening and saw somebody looking down at him. He couldn’t see clearly. He heard a “burp” sound. Then, a familiar smell filled the mine. He remembered the camel that had bad breath. His heart sank. He understood well nobody would offer a hand to his enemy. He felt regretted and was angry with himself. He picked up a stone nearby and wished to throw. Suddenly, he found some peculiar patterns on the stone. He was fascinated by it. “Hey! Grip the rope! Quick!” somebody shouted from above. Mr. Greed climbed up the rope, holding the special stone. The radiant sun attacked Mr. Greed’s sleepy eyes. He rubbed his eyes and forced them open. Standing before him were Mr. Zaya, Mrs. Zaya and Woody. Mr. Greed held their hands tightly and patted Woody. “Thank you! Thank you…” sobbed Mr. Greed with tears running down his face. From that day onwards, the miners did not work on the mine anymore. Instead, they helped Mr. and Mrs. Zaya to plant trees. Within a month’s time, they built a forest barrier! Mr. Greed brought the special stone for his experts’ investigation. To his surprise, it was a dinosaur fossil! They went back to the mine and found more fossils there. He made a fortune with the fossils and set up a fund for the continual planting and maintenance of the forest barrier. Surely, Mr. and Mrs. Zaya were his helpers. From then on, the Zaya’s family had enough food to eat, including Woody! Life – More Precious than a Diamond Ying Wa Primary School, Wan Chung Yin Terry, Fiction: Group 2

ohn lived in northern China, close to Mongolia. He was very poor and worked on the production line in a food factory. He and his wife, Mary, lived in a small wooden house. They always had empty stomachs. They were freezing all the time during winter. John was desperate to make more money and wanted to work as a miner. JHowever, mining was a very dangerous job. John and Mary always argued about whether or not he should go. Finally, John just left home and went to Oyuu Tolgoi with his two friends, Peter and Sam, who had already been mining for a year. They met at the train station and travelled to the mining company. When John arrived, he felt nervous but quite excited. This was his first mining experience. Peter saw John’s expression and said, “Hey, don’t worry. You’ll be fine.” They slept in the dorm that night and in the morning, rode camels to the mining site. They were assigned to the deepest part of the mineshaft in a mining team of thirteen. They put on their safety helmets with flashlights, and carried their mining tools. While they were walking, John said in a rather shaky voice, “This is scary…” Sam replied, “Come on! You’ll soon get used to it.” The men ventured into the deepest cave and started mining coal, iron and copper. They dug and dug and dug… Suddenly, John saw a sparkling light deep in the ground. He ran over and shouted, “Hey, guys! Come over here!” They discovered that the sparkling light was in fact a diamond! They were amazed. Peter murmured, “Oh my God…” “We can make a lot of money!” Sam shrieked excitedly. “Am I dreaming?” John asked, “Is that seriously a diamond? I can’t believe it! My wife will be so happy!” Just as John had finished speaking, a huge explosion rocked the cave. The stalactites on the ceiling fell down like a waterfall. The rocks blocked the entrance of the mineshaft and the three friends blacked out. After a while, John woke up. He noticed the fallen rocks. He quickly woke Peter and Sam, who were next to him. They were terrified and trembling. Sam calmed them down and said, “Okay, don’t panic! Let’s find a way out of here.” They scrambled up to the entrance and saw that the other miners had been crushed by the rocks. They were all dead. It was a horrible scene! Luckily, the friends only had cuts and bruises. They finally found their way to the entrance but it was blocked by enormous rocks. They tried mining through them, but it was no use. They also tried to contact rescuers with their walkie- talkie but there was no reception. “Maybe we can find a secret exit. Let’s look!” They started walking back down the mineshaft. “I think it’s because there were thirteen of us, so we’re trapped down here.” Peter joked. “You still have time to joke?” Sam asked angrily, “Just shut up and keep searching!” They searched and searched until John found a sign that said: Exit #2 above. “Every cloud has a silver lining! Mary, I’ll try my best to return to you.” John thought. They climbed up the rocks and found an old bridge. Beneath it was a pool of lava. ”Be careful not to fall. Let’s take one step at a time.” John said. Peter and Sam walked carefully over the bridge, but when John walked to the end of the bridge, it suddenly broke. He fell and thought he was going to die, but Peter grabbed his arm. John was so relieved and thanked Peter profusely. They kept climbing up the mossy rocks and Sam thought, “Wow! Is this an abandoned mineshaft?” Suddenly, Peter said, “Stop, guys…” Another obstacle was waiting for them. There was a ravine in the bedrock. It was so deep that they couldn’t even see the bottom. There weren’t any bridges. Focusing closely on the ravine, Peter said, “We’re lucky that it’s only narrow. I think we can jump over it.” John shouted, “Are you crazy? It’s too wide! I won’t jump!” Sam laughed and said, “Come on, scaredy cat! I’ll do a ‘leap of faith’ first!” He stepped back, got ready and charged with all his might. He leaped over the ravine, landed safely and said, “See?” Peter cheered and did the same. John was trembling with fear. “Come on! Jump!” encouraged Sam. John mumbled, “Uhhh…O…Okay…” He prayed and started to leap. In mid-air, he covered his eyes and screamed at the top of his lungs. He landed in a heap on the ground. Trying not to laugh, Peter asked, “Are you okay?” However, Sam laughed crazily and grabbed his stomach. John groaned and got up. “It’s not funny at all! Let’s keep moving!” They started walking, but Peter and Sam were still grinning and teasing him. As they ascended the cracked rocks, the oxygen was more plentiful and the men felt warm. Sam exclaimed cheerfully, “We’re getting close to the surface!” They increased their pace and suddenly, John shouted, “I can see some light above!” They ran excitedly to the exit but the gate was locked. They felt helpless. John believed he would never see his wife again. Suddenly, they heard some rescuers outside. They banged on the gate and shouted for help. The rescuers heard them and broke the gate. The friends rushed out delighted to see the surface and the sun after all their time underground. After a week in hospital, John was fully recovered. He quit his job and went home to Mary. She was delighted when John appeared in front of her. He held her in his arms and kissed her. He whispered, “You are the treasure of my life. I will never leave you or put my life in danger again.” New Tales of the Gobi Desert Ying Wa Primary School, Wong Chi Ngai Genper, Fiction: Group 2

young man was awoken up by the sunlight which was slanting into his cozy hub. Surrounding him were lots of different hand-made furniture which were made of wood. The man, Gobi, yawned and got up from his own uncomfortable bed – he had been using it for many years. AHe put on his leather gown and a pair of boots. He strolled out of his house, starring at the sun. His hair had not being cut for donkey’s years which was so long and curly. He did not shave his beard because he had no razor. A bad smell came and spread out of his dirty mouth. His teeth were almost fallen out, just left some yellowish ones. He headed back to his house and took a tiny painting from the table’s drawer. There was a long screechy, horrible sound that broke the silence while he was opening it. In the old picture, there was a well-dressed woman standing on a mountain peak with a man – he was Gobi. Gobi firstly sighed, and then he gave out a loud wail. In the matter of fact, the woman was his wife; however she was lost a year ago. To Gobi, she was the most important woman in his life since they had met each other. He missed her so much and dreamt of seeing her every night. In Gobi’s eyes, it was a hardly opportunity or even a miracle to see her in reality again. Eventually, He decided to set off to find his wife. He didn’t want to be miserable anymore. He carried a small bundle including some food, such as rolls, some pork chops and his wife’s only painting. He walked for miles and miles, rest at nights, continued walking in the mornings and finally he spotted a trail of smoke in the distance. Some banana trees were peculiarly planted there where a tiny stone hub was built. He was so tired and also excited that he would see some people at last. He rushed towards there and saw a woman holding a basket fetching some fruit from the orchards. He knew who she was, he recognized her face and appearance, his eyes welled up with tears and the crystal balls rolled down his cheeks. She overheard the cry and turned around, what she saw was a man having messy hair, wearing a shirt full of holes and a pair of worn boots. The woman also recognized him at once! Although they had not seen each other just for a year, to them, it seemed like they had not seen each other for a century. They lost for words and just looking at each other for a moment. That night, Gobi’s wife cooked plenty of food and made Gobi some new clothes. He was so starving and gobbled all the food. They chatted for a whole day talking about how they spent their time when they did not see each other. Every day, they were having a simply life indeed. They went to get some wood and make them into furniture and fuel. The forest became smaller and smaller and finally was turned to a wasteland. Due to their innocent, they did not know how to grow more trees with their saplings. They started to walk further to find another forest. Many years after, almost all trees were chopped down and the habitats were all destroyed that just left some chickens, cows, sheep and pigs in their farm. Their food became less and there were no more trees near their house. Therefore, they had to move their house to another place. They continued chopping trees, hunting animals… they expanded the entire region into more and more wastelands. To survive, they knocked down their orchards and the hub to get more materials. They recreated a temporary base at fast as they could. Gobi’s wife passed away under the great hunger and Gobi finally regretted of chopping trees. He wrote a book to record all his innocent and regret. After a few days, he also passed away because of his sorrows. The beautiful environment – after humans’ greed – it became a piece of wasteland where could never be fertile again. A long time later, a geologist discovered a new desert and found out that there was a forest before where some ancestors had dwelt in. When the geologist and his teammates were searching this desert, he found an old, rusty, worn diary in the sand. He read through the whole book and discovered this mystery. In order to memorial the story of Gobi and his wife, he named this place to “Gobi Desert”. This desert now becomes a location of several important cities along the Silk Road. The Kingdom of Gobi Ying Wa Primary School, Wong Chun Ming Ernest, Fiction Group 2

urray! I’ve got it!” Ernest shouted out excitedly. “ The moment Ernest learned that he won the junior’s writers award, he was overwhelmed with joy. What made him even more astonished was the awarded expedition in the Gobi Desert for a fortnight. HHe got his full gear in his luggage and was ready to go. Together with a party of eight, including his best friends James, Dick, the other winners and the facilitators, they flew over Altai Mountains and Mongolia and finally landed Chinggis Khaan. Ernest expected the weather stuffy and pretty hot. Surprisingly, the showers of rain lowered the temperature. He felt it rather comfortable. They were ready to be explorers searching for something mysterious in the Gobi Desert. Stepping out of the airport, the explorers were welcomed by a troop of Bactrian camels as huge as horses. Their two humps looked like two mountains standing hand in hand. The explorers took the camel caravan and rode at the sand dunes. They spotted eagles soaring up above and animals like rattlesnakes, yellow-spotted lizards around but quickly disappeared in the ridge before anybody got a chance to take a photo of them. The boys saw nothing green, only the vast wasteland ahead. The bumpy road was not well-paved. After a long miserable ride, they settled at the specific camp site for tourists. They took a break at the Mongolian Tents and met some nomadic children. The explorers received warm hospitality in Gobi. Ernest, James and Dick formed a small group. Their first destination was the Flaming Cliffs where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered long time ago. The land was remote and desolate. The temperature hovered around 50 degrees Celsius. The three boys were dripping with sweat. They went up the cliff and saw the red orange unique sandstone cliffs, comprised of red sand and rocks, scorching sun and emptiness. There were no weeds, no bushes, no living things. The three explorers expected to search around for some fossilized dinosaurs trace but they found nothing ... All of a sudden, James heard some ‘special-style’ music. James boldly asked Ernest and Dick to search around. ‘Dear brothers, ‘ Dick hesitated, ‘did you hear the music?’ ‘Listen, ‘ James assured him. ‘We need to sort it out.’ he continued. ‘I just...’ Ernest whispered. ‘I just think it should be under the ground.’ The three explorers felt puzzled. They had a hot debate about what they should do. They wondered why music was underground. Ernest, James and Dick decided to dig the ground. They took out their folded shovels and started their search. Ernest stepped on the shovel blade and used all his energy ... ‘Um... I think an orchestra was under the ground.’ Ernest exclaimed. ‘Oh! Look... there’s... seems like a ‘plant’ in the soil!’ James cried. They took a close look at the plant and discovered some unique symbols and patterns on the leaves. Some words were craved on the stem. The three explorers used the magnifying glass to read the words. It wrote, ‘The Kingdom of Gobi’. ‘Hmmm... The Kingdom of Gobi! It sounds interesting,’ James yelled excitedly. ‘Why... why... a plant in this infertile area?’ Ernest questioned. Dick puzzled, ‘I did some research about Gobi desert. It is supposed to be one of the largest deserts in the world and it is really dry... not suitable for planting.’ Ernest whooped with surprise, ‘Let’s explore!’ Due to their curiosity, the three boys continued digging, they could still hear music underground. They dug deeper and deeper until they reached the mouth of a hole. Ernest cheered, ‘Light! I saw a beam of light ...!’ ‘Oh! The music was so near us. Great!’ James stammered breathlessly. The three explorers peeked through the hole. There was a serious passage leading to a mysterious hall - it was the Kingdom of Gobi. There lived the Gobians. The Gobians were singing Mongolian Folk Songs. Some Gobians were playing music using conches-like objects while some Gobians were beating the large drums. Their music brought harmony and love. Before this discovery, ‘Gobi’ made people feel like a place without living things, music, love and lives. The three explorers could see many greenery growing densely in the hall surrounded by a lake. There were trees like eight-meter giants, green leaves hugging the colourful flowers in the bushes, thousands of fruits as big as our heads, looking fresh and juicy. The books mentioned Gobi Desert was once fertile and was a ‘Sacred place’ with a lake. This sacred place for the enlightened people appeared in front of the explorers’ eyes. The three explorers squeezed through the tiny ‘dog hole’ and went inside the magical hall. They walked slowly and quietly towards the drummer and that Gobian was shocked when he saw the three boys. ‘What the hack are you doing here? Our kingdom is fifty-thousand kilometers under Gobi! You three boys have dug all the way down here? That’s impossible! No one had done this before! ‘ the drummer questioned them. All Gobians appreciated the boys’ perseverance to dig such a long way down. The Gobians hugged the boys and invited them to dance together. Cooked mutton and creamy goat’s milk were served. Lives in the Kingdom of Gobi were full of harmony, warmth, love and hope. Lives in Gobi Desert was so different from lives in The Kingdom of Gobi. It seemed like two different worlds. The explorers could never tell why there was The Kingdom of Gobi underground. ‘We have waited for this day for such a long time! To show our appreciation to the explorers, we have decided to share half of our harvests each month as a reward to the humans living up in Gobi Desert!’ the Gobian leader suggested. ‘That’s a good idea!’ James exclaimed. The three explorers went back to the Gobi Desert and shared this piece of good news to every man and woman in Gobi Desert. New Tales of the Gobi Desert

wice as long as it is wide, the Gobi Desert has proved a formidable barrier to emperors and warriors alike. Bordered by mountains and T grasslands, it lives in the shadow of the Himalayan range, meaning its dry, barren land is explored only by the brave and intrepid – people like all of our writers and artists featured here! Host to nomads and herders, explorers and ultrarunners, it is also home to camels and goats, bears and… Mongolian death worms?? See what we mean about brave… But its vast rocks and scarred land does not mean it is not worthy of protection. As desertification and climate change take their toll, it is clear that, despite the gems and jewels traded here, and the copper and gold mined from its depths, the true beauty of the Gobi Desert itself is the most precious gift of all, and one that should be protected at all costs. This collection of work is a selection of the best written and artistic pieces submitted to the Hong Kong Young Writers Awards in 2014. So join us as we hardy travellers explore the 500,000 square mile expanse of Asia’s largest desert, and perhaps stop for a while at a camp and hear our New Tales of the Gobi Desert.

Cover Art by Audrey Wang, 10, Regents Primary School of Shenzhen Winner of the Cover Art Award